Industry at loggerheads on merging scope of GMPCS and VSAT CUG service authorization

The satellite industry is in disagreement with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s recommendation to merge the scope of extant GMPCS authorization and Commercial VSAT CUG Service authorization into a single authorization, namely Satellite-based telecommunication Service authorization under the Telecom Act 2023.

While Starlink and SES are not in favour, Kuiper, Globalstar, and Viasat disagree.

In their respective counter comments, in response to TRAI’s , Whether there is need for merging the scopes of the extant GMPCS authorization and Commercial VSAT CUG Service authorization into a single authorisation namely Satellite-based Telecommunication Service authorisation under the Telecommunications Act, 2023? Kindly provide a detailed response with justifications, the players have submitted:

SES. “SES neither supports nor sees the need for merging the scopes of the extant GMPCS authorization and Commercial VSAT CUG Service authorization into a single authorisation namely Satellite-based Telecommunication Service authorisation under the Telecommunications Act, 2023. Evidently, the scope of GMPCS and Commercial CUG VSAT authorisations, being categories under the Unified License, are entirely distinct from one another and does not make them suited to be merged or combined into a single authorization.”

Starlink. “SpaceX and Starlink India recommend that instead of merging the scopes of the two licenses, the appropriate path would be expanding and clarifying the terms of the existing authorisations.

Viasat. “It may be advisable to combine the GMPCS and VSAT-CUG services into a single service (& for authorization).”

Amazon’s Kuiper. “The information currently provided in the extant Guidelines for Grant of Unified License, such as eligibility criteria, application process, timelines, applicable fee, etc., should be incorporated in the General Rules under the Telecom Act.”

GlobalStar. “We welcome TRAI’s proposal to merge the GMPCS authorization and Commercial VSAT CUG Service authorization into a single authorization under the Telecommunications Act, 2023 (“Telecom Act”). This will help streamline the authorization regime with respect to satellite-based communication services under one umbrella, ease of doing business, and provide choice to authorized entities to offer GMPCS service and/or the VSAT-CUG service to their users based on their operational and business requirements without requiring to apply for a new authorization in the future. It is our submission that as discussed below in Para 3.4, the entry fees (and any other authorization-related fee) under the merged authorization should not be over and above the current entry fees and other fees currently payable for GMPCS and VSAT-CUG service, whether singly or jointly.”

OneWeb on the other hand, while opposing the merger, also maintains that the spectrum for both of these services should continue to be assigned administratively, as envisaged under the Telecom Act.
BCS Bureau