(HT)
Satellite communication companies such as Starlink, Eutelsat OneWeb, and Jio Satellite will have to pay 4% of their adjusted gross revenue (AGR) as spectrum charges to the government, as per the telecom regulator’s recommendations issued on Friday.
The much awaited recommendations by Trai will now pave the way for users in the country to get satellite broadband connectivity soon.
In addition to the 4% AGR spectrum charge, the satcom operators will also have to pay a licence fee to the government at 8% of the AGR, as per the authorisation terms.
This is steeper than what these companies had been lobbying for. Elon Musk’s Starlink and Amazon Inc.’s subsidiary Kuiper Systems had during consultations with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) urged it to keep the spectrum charge below 1% of their AGR, with no other charges.
Trai, however, has recommended ₹3,500 per MHz as annual minimum spectrum charges for companies offering both fixed satellite services and mobile satellite services.
This means if the 4% of AGR turns out to be a smaller amount, the telecom operator still has to pay at least ₹3,500 per MHz of spectrum they hold. This sets a floor on the charges to ensure a minimum revenue to the government.
Further, Trai has introduced an additional annual charge of ₹500 per subscriber for fixed satellite services providers in urban areas. “This has been done to take care of the concern that the satellite operators may primarily target the urban users because of their high-paying capacity,” Trai said.
The annual spectrum charges should be paid quarterly, within 15 days of the commencement of a quarter, Trai said, adding that the minimum charges should be paid in advance at the time of assignment of spectrum and at the beginning of every year.
Next steps: the department of telecommunications (DoT) will have to act on the Trai’s recommendations and start with the process of inviting applications from the companies for spectrum allotment.
The spectrum will be given to the operators via a non-auction route for a period of five years, which can be extended by the government for two years.
“We have examined in detail whether there is any case of real competition or level-playing field between the terrestrial services and the satellite services. And after detailed examination, we have found that the satellite services will be complementary and not competing with the terrestrial services,” Trai chairman Anil Kumar Lahoti said during a media briefing.
“Since satellite spectrum is a shared pool, the two (terrestrial and satellite) cannot be priced at par,” Lahoti said, adding that it has recommended to assign spectrum for five years as satcom is currently in a nascent stage, and their business potential would emerge after some years of operations. Further, the life of LEO (low-earth orbit) satellites is just half a decade.
