Satellites can potentially enhance connectivity beyond India\u2019s urban region and contribute to helping India achieve the United Nations\u2019 (UN) Sustainable Development Goals, according to AK Lahoti, chairman, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). <\/p>\n
\u2018The promotion of non-terrestrial networks (NTNs) is seen as a transformative step to enhance connectivity beyond terrestrial reach and foster innovation. Space technology has the potential to contribute to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals,\u2019 Lahoti said on Thursday at the ITU-APT Foundation of India (IAFI) Space Policy Conference 2025 (ISPC-25). <\/p>\n
Satellites can contribute to the achievement of SDGs by providing data and enabling communications and connectivity and remote and far-flung regions. The technology facilitates agencies and regulators to monitor progress, make data-backed decisions, and drive sustainable development initiatives, according to the Global Satellite Operators Association (GSOA).<\/p>\n
As per the Brussels-headquartered industry association, the satellite industry can bring an estimated $250 billion in social and economic benefits globally by 2030.<\/p>\n
Lahoti further said that the Indian Space Policy, 2023, has enabled increased participation of private players and startups across the entire ecosystem and opened up a level-playing field for non-governmental entities. <\/p>\n
He said the telecom regulator\u2019s recently released satcom recommendations are \u201cbalanced\u201d, taking into account the requirements of all stakeholders. <\/p>\n
TRAI, in May, recommended administrative allocation of satcom spectrum with a fee pegged amounting to 4% of adjusted gross revenue (AGR), for a five-year term, which can be extended by another 2 years. The 4% AGR fee applies to both geostationary and non-geostationary satellite operators.<\/p>\n
\u2018We believe that this is a very balanced recommendation, which will benefit benefit the sector and yet take care of the interests of all the stakeholders,\u2019 he said. \u2018Overall, we hope these recommendations will be a significant step to ensuring the growth of India’s satellite broadband ecosystem and support national digital inclusion goals,\u2019 Lahoti added. <\/p>\n
Revathi Mannepalli, joint wireless advisor, and member (radio regulatory board), International Telecommunications Union (ITU), in turn, said that the Telecommunication Act, 2024, has modernised the regulation of the sector, and aims to enhance ease-of-doing-business, promote and development, and bridge the digital divide.
\n\u2018TRAI has already provided recommendations on it (satcom). DoT is working on it, and probably soon will be coming up with the rules and regulations on that,\u2019 she added. <\/p>\n
Isabelle Mauro, director-general, GSOA, said that India has made significant progress in streamlining and centralising space activities.<\/p>\n
\u2018We must continue to adhere to these standardised procedures as we provide the certainty needed for industry investment, and for innovation,\u2019 Mauro added, noting that assignment and pricing debates over the last few years have delayed the rollout of satellite services and impacted their role in bridging the digital divide. <\/p>\n
\u2018The services are now ready, and we must now concentrate on facilitating deployment, including focusing on blanket licensing approaches to streamline procedures and on approvals of these sites,\u2019 according to Mauro. <\/p>\n
The harmonisation of spectrum, mutual recognition and type approval of user channels will all contribute to economies of scale and lower the pricing of deploying user equipment, \u201chence benefitting customers\u201d, she added. <\/p>\n
GSOA\u2019s members include the Eutelsat Group, Airbus, Echostar, AST SpaceMobile, SES, Viasat, and others.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Satellites can potentially enhance connectivity beyond India\u2019s urban region and contribute to helping India achieve the United Nations\u2019 (UN) Sustainable Development Goals, according to AK Lahoti, chairman, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). \u2018The promotion of non-terrestrial networks (NTNs) is seen as a transformative step to enhance connectivity beyond terrestrial reach and foster innovation. Space technology has the potential to contribute to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals,\u2019 Lahoti said on Thursday at the ITU-APT Foundation of India (IAFI) Space Policy Conference 2025 (ISPC-25). Satellites can contribute to the achievement of SDGs by providing data and enabling communications and connectivity […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-949573","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-telecom"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/telecomlive.in\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/949573","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/telecomlive.in\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/telecomlive.in\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/telecomlive.in\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/telecomlive.in\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=949573"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/telecomlive.in\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/949573\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/telecomlive.in\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=949573"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/telecomlive.in\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=949573"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/telecomlive.in\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=949573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}