No monopoly in India; satcom firms must clear security norms before launch: Communications Minister Scindia

Key facts

• Union Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia stated at the India Mobile Congress that India does not allow monopoly in any sector and licences have been given to all applicants in the satellite communications (satcom) sector.
• Three entities — Elon Musk's Starlink, Reliance Jio's satellite venture Jio Satcom, and Bharti-backed Eutelsat OneWeb — have already secured satcom licences in India, while Amazon's Kuiper has expressed interest and is undergoing the licensing process.
• Satcom licencees can begin commercial services in India only after meeting security requirements, as the security assessment of the three licensed entities is under way.
• The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) are close to taking the final decision on the pricing regime for satcom spectrum, with revenue-based charges almost finalised.
• Starlink has received a Global Mobile Personal Communications by Satellite (GMPCS) licence but is awaiting security clearance and spectrum assignment before starting commercial services; it has set up 20 gateway sites and partnered with Bharti Airtel.
• The dispute began after Elon Musk claimed on Wednesday that Starlink was being blocked by 'certain oligarchs'; the communications ministry rejected the charge as 'baseless and misconceived', stating India's satcom framework is fair and non-discriminatory.
• Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge accused the government of imposing monopoly and duopoly, noting the number of telecom players fell from 13 in 2014 to 3 major private players now.