Satcom providers junk Indian telcos' demand for level-playing field
NEW DELHI:
Satellite communications
(
satcom
) players have junked the
telecom industry
's call of seeking a level-playing field between mobile and space broadband services.
Broadband India Forum
(BIF), which represent technology and satcom companies such as Google, Meta, OneWeb, Tata's Nelco, Hughes, among others, has staunchly opposed telecom carriers' opinion that the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has kept satellite spectrum pricing low and non-transparent, compared to prices of spectrum for
terrestrial services
.
The issues of 'level playing field' and 'same service same rule' are based on certain basic legal principles of equality enshrined in Article 14 of the Indian Constitution. According to the Delhi-based association, the core doctrinal requirement under the said Article is that entities must be similarly situated for similar treatment.
'In other words, unequals (satcom and terrestrial services) cannot be treated equally. We submit that two differently placed services which are intrinsically based on different technologies, different regulations and laws, having different intended use, different rights and obligations, cannot be deemed as similar or substitutable or competing services,' TV Ramachandran, director-general of BIF, said in a letter to Neeraj Mittal, secretary, Department of Telecommunications (DoT).
ETTelecom has reviewed a copy of the letter dated June 18, 2025.
TRAI had recommended the administrative allocation of satcom spectrum for a fee pegged at 4% of adjusted gross revenue (AGR) to be assigned for five years. There won't be any upfront fee for getting spectrum.
TRAI Chairman AK Lahoti had categorically rejected the level-playing field argument by telcos, stating that the two technologies were different and that satellites could only be complementary.
In turn, BIF termed the
Cellular Operators Association of India
's (
COAI
) claims as 'detached from reality', adding that the latter's members have formed commercial partnerships with global satellite service providers, including billionaire Elon Musk's Starlink, and AST SpaceMobile, which demonstrates complementarity between terrestrial and satellite services.
In terms of economic scale, BIF said terrestrial telcos in India generate over ₹3.36 lakh crore annually, while the combined satcom market barely touches ₹540-600 crore, or just 0.2% of telco revenue, which 'discredits' any claim of market overlap or substitutability.
Ramachandran further said that the cost of the devices is of the order of ₹25,000 (satcom) versus ₹5,000 (terrestrial), with the scale being of the order of 1:5. Likewise, he noted that the number of satellite terminals manufactured in 2024 by the largest satellite service provider was approximately 3 million globally, whereas in India, almost 150 million mobile devices are sold.
'These numbers expose the fallacy of any claim of substitutability or competitive parity,' the executive said.
BIF's statement comes close on the heels of
telcos, in a recent joint letter through the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI)
to various government authorities, slamming the sector regulator's recommendations on
satcom spectrum pricing
, calling them unjustifiably low.
Telcos had cautioned the government that if TRAI's recommendations were implemented in their current form, they would create a non-level playing field and impact the sustainability of terrestrial telecom services.
'By no stretch of imagination, satellite communication service providers and terrestrial communication providers are similar or equal. To put both categories at par is wholly unjustified, arbitrary, unconstitutional, being violative of Article 14...hence, unequal entities in this case, which are satcom services ought to be treated differently,' Ramachandran said.
'Due to multiple reasons, the satellite services would not even be an alternative (to terrestrial network). It's a minor complementary, and not even a major complementary service,' Minister of State for Communications Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani told ETTelecom in a recent interview, adding that "there is no need to worry" about it.
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