India is first country to auction satellite spectrum

New Delhi: India will be the first country to auction spectrum for satellite communication, and it should be designed to attract investments in the sector, telecom regulator Trai chairman PD Vaghela said on Tuesday.

Speaking at a Broadband India Forum summit on SatCom, Vaghela said the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) will soon make recommendations to make permissions required for satellite communication from various ministries -- Information and Broadcasting, Space and Telecom -- seamless to enhance ease of doing business in the sector. He also said Trai has received a reference from the Department of Telecommunication for the spectrum required to be put to auction and associated aspects of satellite-based communication.

Vaghela said: "I think India will be the first to handle the issue of auctioning the space base spectrum. We are working on it." Adding that, Trai will be coming out with some sort of model for the auction of space spectrum. Vaghela says: "But it should not kill the sector. That is very important. Any system that we will be bringing is to actually encourage and promote investment in the sector, and not increase any burden. I mean, that is the biggest challenge which we have, and we are conscious of that fact."