Elon Musk's satellite internet Starlink is going to enter India soon, but before that, the controversy has started. India's two major telecom companies Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel are challenging the proposed "low fee" for satellite internet services. These companies say that if the Government of India keeps satellite spectrum prices "unreasonably low", it will give an unfair advantage to services like Elon Musk's Starlink and the business of traditional telecom companies will be affected.

What is the matter?

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) proposed in May that satellite service providers would have to pay only 4% of their annual earnings to the government as a fee. At the same time, Starlink had requested the Government of India not to auction the spectrum, but to allocate it directly through licenses as per the global trend as it is a "natural resource" that should be shared among all companies.

Objection of telecom companies

The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) wrote a letter to the Ministry of Communications on May 29 demanding reconsideration of this proposal. They say that traditional telecom companies pay a huge amount in the auction for spectrum, which makes their cost about 21% higher than satellite services.

"The price per megahertz should be the same or comparable, especially when similar services are being offered to similar consumers," COAI wrote. They also added that satellite services can become a cheaper and more competitive alternative to ground broadband.

Reliance and Airtel's concern

Telecom players like Reliance Jio and Airtel are worried that they will have to pay much more than satellite service providers, while they will provide similar internet services to similar consumers. According to sources, Reliance and other companies have spent about $20 billion (about ₹1.72 lakh crore) in buying 5G spectrum in the last few years.

In March, Reliance and Airtel signed distribution deals for Starlink equipment, but as soon as Starlink's services are launched, they will compete with each other. In an interview, Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said that the process of granting license to Starlink is almost complete.

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