20 May 2025
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) announced on Friday its plan to impose a fee of up to 4% of adjusted gross revenue (AGR) on satellite internet providers over a five-year period for the use of spectrum allocated to them for satellite broadband services.
According to TRAI, both geostationary and non-geostationary satellite operators will be subject to a minimum annual fee of INR 3,500 per MHz, with the maximum fee capped at 4% of their AGR.
Non-geostationary satellite operators — such as Eutelsat OneWeb and Starlink — will also need to pay an additional INR 500 per subscriber annually for urban areas. Rural and remote regions will be exempt from this subscriber fee, and the government may consider subsidizing satellite terminals in these areas.
TRAI further recommended that spectrum in the Ku, Ka, Q/V, L, S, and C bands be allocated for five years, with the possibility of a two-year extension. This proposal follows extensive consultations initiated in September 2024 when TRAI issued a discussion paper on spectrum assignment terms for satellite internet services.
Although the proposal requires approval from the Department of Telecommunication’s Digital Communications Commission and ratification by the cabinet, it signals TRAI’s preference for spectrum allocation through administrative processes rather than auctions.
India’s leading telecom operators — Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio, and Vodafone Idea — have expressed concerns, arguing that an auction process would be fairer, as administrative allocation could give satellite broadband providers an unfair advantage by enabling them to offer cheaper services.
TRAI Chairman AK Lahoti emphasized that satellite broadband is viewed as a complementary service rather than a competitor to terrestrial networks: “there is a significant difference between the capacity of terrestrial and satellite networks, so they are not in direct competition.”
TRAI’s recommendations came just a day after Starlink received a Letter of Intent from India’s Department of Telecommunications (DoT) for a satellite communications license. However, Starlink still needs approval from the Indian space regulator, IN–SPACe, before launching services.
All licensees will also need to adhere to a comprehensive set of security requirements, which the DoT revised last week. Spectrum allocation for satellite services remains pending, with the DoT having provisionally assigned spectrum to OneWeb and Orbit Connect in October 2024 for testing purposes.
