Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance pressed India’s telecom watchdog on Friday to reconsider its plan not to auction satellite spectrum but to simply allocate it, in a fresh clash with Elon Musk’s Starlink.

India’s telecoms Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia last month said the government would allocate spectrum administratively in line with global trends but a final notification on how spectrum is given out will come after the telecom watchdog TRAI gives its feedback.

Musk’s Starlink has expressed interest in launching in India following a successful launch in Africa which left local players bruised by low broadband prices and favours the government’s approach to allocating spectrum.

Ravi Gandhi, a top Reliance policy executive, urged the telecom regulator TRAI on Friday, however, to review the decision, noting in an open house discussion hosted by TRAI that the move to allocate spectrum administratively is “the most discriminatory method of assigning any kind of government resource”.

Starlink India executive Parnil Urdhwareshe on the other hand said India’s allocation plan was “forward-looking”.

Billionaire Ambani runs India’s biggest telecom company, Reliance Jio. Analysts say a spectrum auction, requiring much more investment, would likely deter foreign rivals.

The TRAI’s recommendations, which will be formed over coming weeks, will be critical in deciding the future course of how satellite spectrum is doled out.

Reliance, which has dominated India’s telecom sector for years, is concerned that after spending $19 billion in airwave auctions it risks losing broadband customers to Musk, and potentially even data and voice clients later as technology advances, Reuters previously reported.

The methodology of giving out spectrum for satellite services in India has been a topic of contention between the billionaires.

Musk’s Starlink, a unit of SpaceX, has 6,400 active satellites orbiting earth to provide low-latency broadband to 4 million customers.

Ambani once gave data for free on his mobile plans, but Musk is no stranger to such tactics.

In Kenya, Musk priced Starlink at $10 per month, versus $120 in United States, with rental plans available for higher hardware cost. Kenya’s Safaricom in July complained to local regulators, calling for players like Starlink to be required to partner with mobile networks, and not operate independently. Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance pressed India’s telecom watchdog on Friday to reconsider its plan not to auction satellite spectrum but to simply allocate it, in a fresh clash with Elon Musk’s Starlink.

India’s telecoms Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia last month said the government would allocate spectrum administratively in line with global trends but a final notification on how spectrum is given out will come after the telecom watchdog TRAI gives its feedback.

Musk’s Starlink has expressed interest in launching in India following a successful launch in Africa which left local players bruised by low broadband prices and favours the government’s approach to allocating spectrum.

Ravi Gandhi, a top Reliance policy executive, urged the telecom regulator TRAI on Friday, however, to review the decision, noting in an open house discussion hosted by TRAI that the move to allocate spectrum administratively is “the most discriminatory method of assigning any kind of government resource”.

Starlink India executive Parnil Urdhwareshe on the other hand said India’s allocation plan was “forward-looking”.

Billionaire Ambani runs India’s biggest telecom company, Reliance Jio. Analysts say a spectrum auction, requiring much more investment, would likely deter foreign rivals.

The TRAI’s recommendations, which will be formed over coming weeks, will be critical in deciding the future course of how satellite spectrum is doled out.

Reliance, which has dominated India’s telecom sector for years, is concerned that after spending $19 billion in airwave auctions it risks losing broadband customers to Musk, and potentially even data and voice clients later as technology advances, Reuters previously reported.

The methodology of giving out spectrum for satellite services in India has been a topic of contention between the billionaires.

Musk’s Starlink, a unit of SpaceX, has 6,400 active satellites orbiting earth to provide low-latency broadband to 4 million customers.

Ambani once gave data for free on his mobile plans, but Musk is no stranger to such tactics.

In Kenya, Musk priced Starlink at $10 per month, versus $120 in United States, with rental plans available for higher hardware cost. Kenya’s Safaricom in July complained to local regulators, calling for players like Starlink to be required to partner with mobile networks, and not operate independently.

© Thomson Reuters 2024

NEW DELHI: Maverick American billionaire Elon Musk thanked the govt for clarifying that satcom spectrum will be allotted only administratively – contrary to demand made by local heavyweights Reliance Jio and Airtel for auctions — and said that he looks forward to beginning internet services in the country with his company Starlink.
Musk, whose entry faces stiff opposition from the domestic telecom behemoths who are seeking auctions in line with how they buy their airwaves, appeared unfazed with the lobbying and latched on to the comments from Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia about administrative allocation.
“Much appreciated! We will do our best to serve the people of India with Starlink,” he said in a post from his handle on X while responding to a user comment on the govt’s clarification on Tuesday.
The issue of how the spectrum needs to be given to satcom players – through auction or administratively – has virtually pitted Jio and Airtel not only against Musk but even against the new telecom law that mandates administrative allocation for satellite airwaves against bidding process which is done in case of terrestrial services.
Scindia was also categorical in his views on the matter, and said that telecom law clearly states that satcom airwaves will not be auctioned. “Spectrum for satellite services will be allocated administratively but that doesn’t mean that it will come without a cost. The cost of spectrum and the formula of allocation will be decided by telecom regulator Trai… Satellite spectrum across the world is administratively allocated. So, India is not doing anything different from the rest of the world… satellite spectrum is a shared spectrum. Now if the spectrum is shared then how can you price it individually?”
The govt’s statement was also supported by the Indian Space Association (ISpA) which, surprisingly, also has Airtel as a member. “We welcome the Telecom Minister for his unequivocal and clear statement on the allocation of spectrum for satellite communication. The govt’s intent — which was defined in the telecom act of 2023 — clearly lays out assignment of satellite spectrum by administrative method which is also a globally-harmonised practice for using of shared spectrum,” ISpA Director General Lt Gen (Retd) Anil Kumar Bhatt said on the sidelines of the India Mobile Congress .
He said the satellite industry is now awaiting the final allocation of spectrum for space at the earliest after Trai’s consultation paper will give its recommendations to the Department of Telecom. “The administrative allocation of spectrum for space is a major step to connect the remote and unserved people of India to the digital economy.”
Jio had been pressing the govt and regulator Trai for a ‘level-playing field’, saying that satellite operators should also be made to buy spectrum in auctions like terrestrial operators do. Its voice was given support by Sunil Mittal at the India Mobile Congress on Tuesday as one of the country’s most-experienced telecom honcho also sought the same methodology. “Satellite operators who want to provide services to urban areas and retail customers indeed need to go through the regular licensing process of any country, and in this case, India, to obtain a license; buy the spectrum; undertake all the obligations, including rollout and security; pay their license fees and taxes and they would be welcomed by the telecom fraternity,” Mittal said in his address where PM Modi was also present.

The government on Tuesday said it will allot spectrum for satellite broadband administratively and not via auction, hours after Elon Musk criticized the auction route being sought by rival billionaire Mukesh Ambani as “unprecedented”.

In what is seen as a battle between billionaires, the methodology of awarding spectrum for satellite services in India – a market set to grow 36% a year to reach $1.9 billion by 2030 – has been a contentious issue since last year.

Musk’s Starlink argues administrative allotment of licences is in line with a global trend, while India’s Reliance, led by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, says an auction is needed to ensure a level playing field and as there are no provisions in Indian law on how individuals can be provided satellite broadband services.

Telecoms Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said during a New Delhi event that the spectrum will be allocated administratively in line with Indian laws, and its pricing worked out by the telecom watchdog.

“If you do decide to auction it, then you will be doing something which is different from the rest of the world,” he said.

Musk was appreciative of the government’s decision, and said on social media platform X, “We will do our best to serve the people of India with Starlink”.

On Sunday, Reuters was first to report that Reliance had challenged the Indian telecom regulator’s consultation process that signals home satellite broadband spectrum should be allocated, not auctioned, calling for it to start again.

The minister’s comment will come as a shot in the arm for Musk, who following the Reuters story, wrote on X late on Monday that any decision to auction “would be unprecedented”.

“This spectrum was long designated by the ITU as shared spectrum for satellites,” Musk said, referring to the International Telecommunication Union, a U.N. agency for digital technology.

India is a member of the ITU and signatory to its treaty that regulates satellite spectrum and advocates that allocation must be done “rationally, efficiently and economically” as it is a “limited natural resource”.

Sunil Mittal, co-chair of global satellite group Eutelsat, which has partnered with India’s telecom operator Bharti Airtel, voiced support for the auction route on Tuesday.

“Satellite companies who have ambitions to come into urban areas, serving elite retail customers, just need to take the telecom licenses like everybody else… they need to buy the spectrum as telecom companies buy,” Mittal, who is also the chair of Airtel, said at the New Delhi event.

Earlier in 2023, both Eutelsat unit OneWeb and Airtel had voiced concerns about auctioning the spectrum in their submissions to the Indian government.

Musk’s Starlink and some global peers like Amazon’s Project Kuiper back an administrative allocation, saying spectrum is a natural resource that should be shared by companies.

© Thomson Reuters 2024