Satcom providers divided over licensing rules for satellite earth station gateways

Apple’s emergency satellite communication service partner Globalstar has urged the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to ensure that the terms and conditions of the Satellite Earth Station Gateways Authorisation (SESG) do not impose heavy obligations on satcom providers. Satellite Earth Station Gateways are ground stations that transmit data between a local area network.

Globalstar argues that the existing license for satcom companies, Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite (GMPCS) license, requires authorised entities to establish gateway stations, and as such any new authorisation specifically meant for SESG service providers should not adversely impact the operations of GMPCS license holders. Additionally, the company urges TRAI to provide expedited clearance and give priority to telecom entities who need to establish their own SESGs in India for obtaining the GMPCS authorisation.

“The authorized telecommunication entities need to establish such operations in an expedited manner to meet timelines and conditions arising from spectrum allocation and their GMPCS authorization terms, and therefore due priority should be given to their plans to operationalize their SESG setup for internal infrastructural requirements,” Globalstar mentions.

The need for gateway authorisation:
In October this year, TRAI released a consultation paper seeking inputs on the terms and conditions for network authorisation for a range of services including earth station gateways. In this consultation, the regulator mentioned that it had given recommendations to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) suggesting that the government should create a separate license for SESG in 2022.

TRAI suggested that those with this license should be able to provide gateway station services to any entity that has permission from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting/the DoT to provide satcom services. They must not provide any telecom services directly to the customers. The SESG license holder should have permission to provide gateway services for a period of 20 years with the provision of renewal for a period of 10 years.

However, the government did not end up adopting these recommendations. As such, TRAI believes that with the Telecommunication Act, 2023 in place it needs to seek fresh inputs from stakeholders on whether it should make any changes to its older recommendations.

What even is a satellite communication network?
In the consultation paper, TRAI mentioned that the DoT had asked it to provide recommendations for satellite communication networks given that anyone providing telecom services has to obtain government authorisation under the Telecom Act.

Responding to this, Globalstar points out that neither the Telecom Act, nor TRAI’s consultation paper defines what a “satellite communication network” is and as such, it requests TRAI and DoT to define the term before suggesting new licensing categories.

Problems with multiple overlapping authorisations:
Responding to TRAI’s question about whether there is a need for any specific authorisation for satellite communication networks under the Telecom Act, Globalstar says that such an authorisation would be “duplicative”. It mentions that such an authorisation would strain the spectrum allocation process for entities intending to provide satellite communication services. The company notes that TRAI is already considering a separate authorisation for SESG service providers which the regulator acknowledges would be “analogous” with the satellite communication network authorisation. Further, it also gave recommendations in September allowing VNOs to enter into agreements with satcom companies for internet access.

In the consultation paper, TRAI also asked stakeholders whether the government should allow satellite communication networks to obtain spectrum. To this, Globalstar mentions that while both VNOs and SESG service providers cannot procure spectrum under their respective licenses, the new satellite communication network authorization may entitle both these entities to spectrum. Since spectrum is a finite resource, the company asks TRAI to reconsider whether it is necessary to provide spectrum to this new authorisation category and whether “this new authorization will serve the objective of delivering efficient telecommunication networks.”

The company says that spectrum assignment is an especially big concern to Globalstar because it provides emergency communication over big low earth orbit (LEO) mobile satellite service (MSS) bands. For context, LEOs are satellites that circle the earth at low orbit to provide internet connectivity in remote areas, and MSS caters to mobile devices. Across the world, regulators allocate LEO MSS bands on an exclusive basis since sharing the bands can cause interference. Globalstar urges TRAI to consider such interference when allocating spectrum for satellite communication networks. Medianama