Elon Musk & Mukesh Ambani In Great Game Over Spectrum
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Fight intensifies over spectrum for satellite communications by Mukesh Ambani & Elon Musk
By Sanjay Singh
New Delhi, October 14: The faceoff between with India’s Mukesh Ambani’s Jio Space Fiber and Elon Musk’s Starlink has further intensified. The Ambani-led Reliance Group is learnt to be arguing that India’s telecom regulatory body, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), incorrectly concluded that home satellite broadband spectrum should be allocated and not auctioned.
The methodology of giving out spectrum for satellite services in India, a market which is set to grow 36% a year to reach $1.9 billion by 2030 according to global consultancy, Deloitte, has been a contentious issue since last year.
Starlink and global players like Amazon’s Project Kuiper support administrative allocation. Ambani’s Jio advocates for an auction process.
The current dispute is over an interpretation of Indian telecom rules that has paved the way for the allocation of spectrum last year as Musk wanted.
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“But Reliance is arguing that no provisions are in place for satellite broadband services for individual or home user and has requested TRAI to ensure a level playing field,” said an informed source.
Currently, TRAI, is holding a public consultation, but Reliance last week wrote to TRAI and urged the process to be started afresh as it said TRAI’s has “pre-emptively interpreted” that allocation is the way forward.
“TRAI seems to have concluded, without any basis, that spectrum assignment should be administrative,” Reliance’s senior regulatory affairs official Kapoor Singh Guliani wrote in the letter to Union Telecommunications minister, Jyotiraditya Scindia. TRAI has in its consultation paper indicated Indian laws mandate allocation of spectrum for such services without conducting any studies, Reliance added in its letter.
Starlink and global players like Amazon’s Project Kuiper support administrative allocation, while Ambani advocates for an auction process. If it comes in favour of Starlink, it will be able to get the required government approvals to offer voice and data communication services in India. This is Starlink’s second attempt to enter the Indian satcom market. Bharti’s OneWeb and Reliance Jio have already entered the Indian satcom market.
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While Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea are for auction of satellite spectrum, all others, including Starlink and Bharti’s OneWeb, are against auction and press for administrative allocation. Competition for satellite spectrum is fierce than for terrestrial, as there are only three private telecom players in the country, but the number is much higher for satcom.
One of the biggest differences between Jio SpaceFiber and Starlink is the satellite orbit they use. Jio SpaceFiber uses medium earth orbit (MEO) satellites, while Starlink uses low earth orbit (LEO) satellites. MEO satellites orbit at a height of 2,000 to 22,000 miles above Earth, while LEO satellites orbit at a height of 120 to 1,200 miles above Earth.
Similarly, on the Latency, which means the time it takes for a signal to travel from one point to another. MEO satellites have higher latency than LEO satellites because they have to travel a longer distance to reach Earth. This means that Jio’s SpaceFiber users may experience slightly more lag when gaming or using other latency-sensitive applications.
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Another key difference between Jio SpaceFiber and Starlink is their coverage area. MEO satellites can provide coverage to a larger area than LEO satellites because they have a wider field of view. This means that Jio SpaceFiber may be a better option for users in rural or remote areas.
On cost front, Jio SpaceFiber is expected to be more affordable than Starlink. This is because MEO satellites are less expensive to build and launch than LEO satellites. However, the exact pricing of both services has not yet been announced.
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