The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is expected to take a decision by next week on the recommendations given by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) for setting up satellite earth station gateways. As per industry sources, the inter-ministerial panel, Digital Communications Commission (DCC), is scheduled to meet next week and take a call on the matter.
In November 2022, TRAI proposed a separate pan-India licence for setting up satellite earth station gateways, which should be outside the ambit of unified licence. As per the proposal, the licence holders should pay a token of Re 1 licence fee as they would not be offering any kind of telecom or broadcasting services to consumers directly. Such entities should offer their services to only licensed firms such as telecom operators. The regulator also recommended that no spectrum should be assigned to the licence holders as they would not be providing communication services to end-consumers.
