On Tuesday, the government of India made a milestone decision in the ongoing debate over spectrum allocation. According to the government’s official statement, India will allocate the spectrums for satellite via administrative means, probably setting a price payable on a first-come, first-serve basis rather than the traditional auction route.
This news comes hours after Elon Musk commented “unprecedented” on the Reliance remarks against the decision. On Sunday, Reuters was the first to report that the Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance had challenged the decision of the Indian telecom regulator.
Impact Of The Decision
The decision will play a significant role in improving broadband services in India. Further, it has opened doors for international players like Elon Musk’s Starlink and Amazon’s Project Kuiper to enter India’s broadband market.
On the contrary, many Indian Telco giants have tried to restrict these players’ entry into the Indian market by advocating the idea of an auction. A few of these voices are Reliance, Sunil Mittal, Chairman of Airtel and co-chair of Eutelsat and more.
Airtel mentioned in its statement, “Therefore, mobile operators and satcom operators, who have worked in harmony for decades, can continue to do so to serve those who are still struggling to find internet connectivity.”
However, this is not the first time these telecom giants have raised these concerns. In early 2023, both Eutelsat’s OneWeb unit and Airtel expressed their concerns regarding the auctioning of the spectrum in their submissions to the Indian government.
