NEW DELHI: India may see the first commercial rollout of satellite communication services by December, as Starlink, Reliance Jio-SES, and Bharti-backed Eutelsat OneWeb have received all necessary approvals to begin operations.Industry executives say that while infrastructure has long been in place, spectrum allotment delays have prevented these players from launching earlier, costing India both revenue and its potential to become a regional satcom hub.Earlier on Wednesday, Starlink became the third company to receive a commercial go-ahead from space regulator IN-SPACe, after Eutelsat OneWeb and Jio-SES. “Trai had given its recommendation in May. DoT (Department of Telecommunications) typically takes 2 to 3 months on the outer side to come back with its recommendations and present it to the DCC (Digital Communications Commission),” an official from a satellite communications organisation that possesses all necessary authorisations told ET.“Once the DCC approves them, it needs to be vetted by the Cabinet. Then the DoT needs to come out with its rules for allotment. Optimistically, the government is likely to be in a position to give spectrum by October,” the official added.Two industry executives said that once the spectrum is allotted, it would take about a month to roll out commercial services. “So basically, a month from then, services can be launched. We are looking at a November end-December timeline (for launch of commercial services) at an optimistic level,” ET noted quoting officials.The three companies have now secured all necessary approvals to provide space services, with Starlink recently obtaining its GMPCS licence. Meanwhile, Amazon Kuiper and Globalstar (Apple’s satcom partner) continue to await regulatory clearances from Indian authorities.India’s space economy shows significant promise, with projections from IN-SPACe indicating potential growth to $44 billion by 2033, representing approximately 8% of global market share. The annual satellite communication revenue opportunity stands at $1 billion. The Department of Telecommunications will establish pricing and regulations for satellite spectrum allocation through administrative means, following Trai’s recommendations. This decision came after intense disagreements between telecommunications companies advocating spectrum auctions and satellite companies preferring administrative allocation.“We don’t believe any of the players will have any head start in launching commercial services, Since Airtel and Jio are also partners of Starlink, we expect all three (Starlink, Eutelsat OneWeb and Jio-SES) to start at the same time, because that makes sense from a technical, commercial and a compliance standpoint,” Rohan Dhamija, partner & head of India & Middle East at Analysys Mason told ET.Both Jio and Bharti Airtel, with the latter’s parent company holding significant stake in Eutelsat OneWeb, maintain marketing arrangements with Starlink.Eutelsat OneWeb and Jio-SES were earlier granted trial spectrum by the DoT to test their services and demonstrate them to security agencies. Starlink is also expected to receive trial spectrum soon to validate its security compliance.
