India will be the first country to auction spectrum for satellite communication, and it should be designed to attract investments in the sector, telecom regulator Trai chairman PD Vaghela said on Tuesday.
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) chairman PD Vaghela said that telecom regulator has also received a reference from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) for the spectrum required to be put for auction, and other related aspects of satellite-based communication.
Trai has received a reference from the Department of Telecommunication for spectrum required to be put to auction and associated aspects in respect of the space-based communications,” Vaghela said.
The official was speaking at a satcom industry event on Tuesday. Trai will also come up with a consultation paper in this regard, as per the official.
“I think India will be the first to handle the issue of auctioning the space base spectrum. We are working on it,” Vaghela said.
Trai will be coming out with some sort of model for the auction of space spectrum, he added.
“But it should not kill the sector. That is very important. Any system that we will be bringing is to actually encourage and promote investment in the sector, and not increase any burden. I mean, that is the biggest challenge which we have, and we are conscious of that fact,” Vaghela said.
Trai is yet to come up with a consultation paper on the spectrum auction as per the standard process meant for satellite communication.
When asked about the status of the paper, Vaghela said that Trai is in discussion with experts and regulators worldwide for a suitable model and the consultation paper will be floated after those discussions are over.
While telecom operators have proposed to allocate spectrum through an auction for satellite communication, satellite industry players have opposed it.
