Sunil Mittal joins Ambani to pitch for satellite cos buying spectrum

Telecom leaders advocate for satellite companies to pay license fees and buy airwaves for fair competition.

Telecom czar Sunil Bharti Mittal on Tuesday (October 15, 2024) joined his rival Mukesh Ambani-led Jio, to make a strong case for satellite companies paying license fee as well as buying airwaves for their telecom services just like legacy companies do, in a bid to create a level-playing field.

Speaking at the India Mobile Conference, Mr. Mittal, who heads India’s second largest telecom firm Bharti Airtel, said existing telecom companies will take satellite services into the remotest parts.

“And those satellite companies who have ambitions to come into urban areas, serving retail customers, just need to pay the telecom licenses like everyone else. They are bound to the same conditions,” he said.

“They need to buy the spectrum as the telecom companies do and need to pay the license as the telecom companies do, and also secure the networks of the telecom companies,” he said in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Last week, Ambani’s Reliance Jio had written to Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia opposing the telecom regulator TRAI’s recommendation of satellite broadband being allocated and not auctioned.

Elon Musk’s Starlink and global peers like Amazon’s Project Kuiper back an administrative allocation.