India May Launch Satellite Internet Services By June: Report

India may launch satellite internet services by June as the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is reportedly in the final leg to release a recommendations framework for the service. 

According to a Mint report, citing people close to the development, the TRAI is giving the finishing touches to a set of recommendations on the pricing and use of satellite communications.  

This satellite internet services aims to provide high-speed internet access to remote areas and maritime regions, where traditional infrastructure is challenging to deploy.

It is pertinent to note that TRAI has been in the making of satellite regulation for nearly two years now. Moreover, India’s space was liberalised between 2020 and 2022 to give access to satellite spectrum and infrastructure between 2020 and 2022

Three players, including Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio Infocomm, Sunil Bharti Mittal’s Bharti Airtel and Elon Musk’s Starlink are awaiting the framework to debut their satellite services.

However, the report noted Starlink is yet to get its Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite (GMPCS) licence. GMPCS licence is a permit given by a government, enabling a company to operate a satellite communication network providing mobile voice, data, and messaging services to users across the globe. 

Not to mention, there is already an ongoing discussion about whether spectrum should be auctioned or allocated directly. While the auction view is supported by telecom companies like Jio and Airtel), the directly allocated way preferred by Starlink and Amazon’s Project Kuiper.