The world’s richest man, Elon Musk, goes head-to-head with an Indian billionaire. This war seems to be happening in telecommunications. In fact, traditional telecom service providers Jio, Airtel and Vodafone Idea are competing with Elon Musk’s company Starlink.
This war is about spectrum allocation. While Jio and Airtel want to auction satellite spectrum, Musk’s demands are another story. Reliance Jio has been the most vocal on the issue. The company has talked a lot about satellite spectrum.
Jio writes a letter to TRAI
Recently, the company also wrote to TRAI regarding the entire incident. Jio believes that such spectrum should be made available through auction so that legacy operators get a level playing field. Here, the traditional operators are Jio, Airtel and Vodafone Idea, which bought the telecom spectrum and built telecom tower infrastructure for it.
Musk’s company Starlink, on the other hand, requested administrative funding. Starlink said it should follow global trends in this regard. It seems that Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia is also leaning towards the global trend in this whole matter.
Also read: Will Starlink challenge Jio and Airtel? Apply for Indian license again
What did the Minister of Telecommunications say?
He had also earlier said that such television broadcasts should be made available through administrative allocation and not through auctions. Scindia said the matter has been retained in Schedule 1 of the Telecommunications Act 2023, which was passed in December. This means that satellite communications spectrum should be released administratively.
He had said, “This does not mean that the spectrum will be available for free.” What its price will be, what is the formula for determining the price, that is not decided by you or me… but by TRAI. TRAI has also issued a paper in this regard and we have a telecom regulator.
Also Read: Not Elon Musk’s Starlink, ISRO launches first satellite internet service in India, will provide high-speed internet
“The constitution gives the agency the power to determine administrative costs?” The telecom minister said TRAI will offer the best pricing, which will be adopted.
Scindia said: “Satellite spectrum is released administratively globally, so India is not doing anything different. If it is released through auction, it will definitely be different from other places in the world.
What’s the real problem?
In fact, companies like Jio, Airtel and Vodafone Idea have invested heavily in telecom spectrum and infrastructure. If a company like Starlink comes to India and doesn’t have to spend money to buy spectrum, they can get ahead of these legacy companies.
In this regard, Airtel CEO Sunil Bharti Mittal said, “Satellite companies that want to operate in urban areas of India and want to serve retail customers should also pay telecoms like other companies License Fees “They should be subject to the same conditions as other companies.
Musk has also joined the fight. He posted Jio’s letter on social media platform X. He wrote, “I would call and ask if it would be too much trouble for Starlink to compete in providing internet services to the people of India?”
