Trai For 4% Levy On Satcom Operators

New Delhi: Telecom regulator Trai on Friday recommended levy of four per cent of annual revenues as the spectrum fee on satellite-based internet service providers like Elon Musk’s Starlink.

Operators offering services in urban areas would have to shell out Rs500 per subscribers annually additionally, the TRAI said in its recommendations to the Department of Telecommunications. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) recommended that satellite broadband spectrum be allotted for five years, which can be extended by another two years. The 4 per cent of adjusted gross revenue (AGR) spectrum charge would be for both geostationary orbit (GSO) and NGSO (non-Geostationary orbit) operators. These would be subject to a minimum annual spectrum charge of Rs3,500 per MHz.

… dismisses arguments of sitcom operators

Trai on Friday rejected arguments that satcom services would compete directly with terrestrial mobile offerings, as the telecom regulator cited the ‘vast difference’ between their network capacities and scale of operations.

Trai argued that the two services are complementary. “There is no comparison on competition, these are complementary services,” Anil Kumar Lahoti, Chairman, Trai, said at a briefing.