Policy vacuum

Govt must frame rules for space communication

India’s private sector has made a good start in the area of space communication with London-headquartered OneWeb, the joint venture between Bharti Enterprises and the UK government, completing its global constellation of 618 satellites on Sunday. Indeed, the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) has played a key role in the launch of many batches of satellites. The Union government also has been an enabler in bringing the private sector into this crucial field in an effort to bridge the digital divide and help those in remote and hilly areas access high-speed broadband. But all this will come to nought if the government policy on spectrum allocation and foreign investment in space communication is further delayed.

There needs to be clarity on whether spectrum for satellite-based communication (satcom) will be allocated after a process of auction like in the case of terrestrial telecom service, or if it will be given out on an administered price model. The industry has been split between the two views. Those focused only on conventional telecom services in the 2G to 5G band, for instance, have argued that auction should be the way to go even for satcom. However, the Bharti group, the largest shareholder in OneWeb, has maintained that spectrum for space communication should be allocated through administered pricing. Globally, governments have not taken the auction route to give out spectrum, a scarce resource, to satcom firms. Those against auction say it would be an unfeasible proposition in satcom. On the sidelines of an industry event in December last year, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) Chairman P D Vaghela had indicated India would be the first country to auction spectrum for space and satcom. Trai was expected to come up with a consultation paper on spectrum allocation for space communication by January and recommendation by May this year. But it has not been released yet.

Besides, the policy on foreign direct investment (FDI) for the space communication industry is also awaited. The spacecom policy, which will include FDI norms, is being steered by the Department of Space and Department of Telecommunications. Once the FDI rules are clear, ventures such as OneWeb, with the UK government and French firm Eutelsat as Bharti’s partners, would be able to cater to India’s masses. Sunil Mittal, Bharti Enterprises chairman and OneWeb executive chairman, expects to launch the India operations of satellite communication services in July-August. Before that, the spacecom policy notification has to be out. Only then will OneWeb’s UK-based holding company be able to bring in FDI and take a stake in OneWeb India Communications, which is currently 100 per cent owned by the Bharti group. Even the Eutelsat stake in OneWeb will follow the satcom policy notification.

Apart from OneWeb, some of the global players such as Elon Musk-backed Starlink, which was forced to exit India in the absence of a regulatory framework, have plans for this market. Without a policy, nothing will move. Globally, the space race has been led by Jeff Bezos and Mr Musk, though their space ambition is not limited to communications. After OneWeb’s successful launch of the final set of 36 satellites, Prime Minister Narendra Modi noted the development reinforced India’s leading role as a global commercial launch service provider in the true spirit of aatmanirbharta. Now the government, through its policies, must ensure that India is able to take advantage of space communication as soon as possible.