The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has proposed to waive off the bandwidth charges levied on service providers for establishing satellite connectivity near the Indo-China border in the Northeast.
Currently, satellite bandwidth charges are levied on operators by Antrix Corporation, the commercial and marketing arm of Indian Space Research Organisation, which functions under the Department of Space (DoS).
DoT is seeking a waiver from the same, since service providers operating in the Northeast region have to deploy expensive satellite bandwidth because of the inhospitable terrain, which makes it difficult for them to establish connectivity using optical fibre or microwave resources. The matter will also be discussed by the INSAT Coordination Committee (ICC), which allocates satellite transponders to user groups depending on their availability and urgency of use.
In a consultation paper released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India on the state of telecom infrastructure in the Northeast, the regulator stated that the price of satellite bandwidth is high, since demand outstrips current capacity on Indian satellites. The regulator had, in fact, suggested that 75 per cent of the annual satellite bandwidth charges be subsidised by the Universal Services Obligation (USO) Fund. This is because Antrix Corporation may face challenges in reducing the levies since it has to pay for hiring transponders from international satellites.
