September 30, 2025

Hold on tight, satellite fans! The Indian government is all set to hand out commercial satellite spectrum to private players including Starlink, Eutelsat OneWeb, and Jio Satellite. But the state-run telecom giant, BSNL, might just have a secret ace up its sleeve. Why? Because BSNL enjoys lower regulatory fees while private firms may have to cough up bigger payments! BSNL is already running satellite communication services mainly for strategic users like security agencies and government bodies. It pays only 1% of its adjusted gross revenue (AGR) as spectrum charges. On the other hand, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) suggested private firms should pay 4% AGR. And guess what? The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) hasn’t agreed to this yet and might increase fees even more! Experts say this means BSNL has a clear advantage even though private players want to snatch away the users BSNL currently serves. But that's not all! The government is thinking differently for BSNL's new direct-to-device service — a cool tech where mobiles, smart watches, and even cars connect to satellites directly. This service targets a broader audience and may cost BSNL different levies. Last year, Viasat showed off this amazing direct-to-device connectivity at the India Mobile Congress alongside BSNL. They sent two-way and SOS messages from a normal Android phone all the way to a satellite 36,000 km away! This technology follows the latest global mobile standard called 3GPP release 17, and big names like Starlink are working on their own satellites for it. Right now, BSNL operates under a special 'Sui Generis' licence for satellite services. The DoT is working hard to finalize allocation plans for satellite spectrum and is asking Trai for more clarity on pricing rules. Once that’s done, private firms will get spectrum officially and the new space race will heat up! So, with BSNL’s low charges and new tech, can private players fly higher, or will BSNL remain the satellite king? Only time will tell!

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Tags: Bsnl, Satellite spectrum, Starlink, Direct-to-device services, Telecom regulatory authority of india, Dot,