To discuss the roadmap for manufacturing of satellite communication gears, top officials from DoT are likely to meet industry players. The Department of Telecommunication is expected to meet OneWeb, Hughes Communication, Immarsat, IoT players, telcos, and tech startups.
DoT Might Launch New Policy For Satellite Internet Players
In addition, the ministry is likely to come up with new norms for satellite internet companies before announcing the Spacecom policy.
"The draft Spacecom policy circulated by Department of Space (DoS) emphasizes increased participation of the commercial Indian industry to provide space-based communications, and an interactive session chaired by the telecom secretary is planned with industry on July 12 to develop a satcoms infrastructure ecosystem," said DoT's satellite cell.
Notably, all top representatives of industries like Reliance Jio, Airtel, Bharat Electronics, Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DoT) Skylo Technologies, and Saankhya Labs. Additionally, officials from Niti Aayog, DRDO, IIT, and TRAI are expected to attend the meeting, reports ET.
Meanwhile, the report claims that Elon Musk backed Starlink and Jeff Bezos' Amazon, which are competing with OneWeb in the same segment have not been invited for the virtual meeting.
"Their names do not appear in the invitee list because as per our records, they are neither a licensee of DoT nor have a local office in India," the DoT said. Starlink and OneWeb are likely to start their operations in June 2022 in India. On the other hand, Amazon-backed Project Kuiper has not shared its plans for launching services in the country.
Reliance Jio, Airtel, And Vi Are Allowed To Offer Services In Remote Areas Via Satellite
This meeting development comes soon after the Digital Communications Commission (DCC) approved VSAT technology, which means telecom services can be provided in remote areas. Besides, DCC has cleared a proposal of the BharatNet project for broadband in the next 16 villages via PPP mode and investment of Rs 19,041 crore.
It is worth noting that very few companies in India are providing VSAT services and all private telecom players, such as Reliance Jio, Airtel, and Vodafone-Idea are likely to join hands with Nelco, BSNL, and Hughes communication for the same services.