Satcom spectrum allocation will be administratively, says Scindia

"The Telecom Act 2023, passed in December last year has very clearly put this in Schedule 1 which means that satcom spectrum will be allocated administratively'

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NEW DELHI: Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Tuesday rejected service providers' demand to auction satcom spectrum but made it clear that radiowaves will come with a cost even if assigned without auction for satcom services.

Earlier in the day, Bharti Airtel founder and chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal joined rival firm Reliance Jio in demanding allocation of spectrum for satcom services in the same manner as it is allocated to telecom players.

"The Telecom Act 2023 which was passed in December of last year has very clearly put this in Schedule 1 which means that satcom spectrum will be allocated administratively. That does not mean that spectrum comes without a cost. What that cost is and what the formula of that cost is going to be will not be decided by you and me but it will be decided by Trai," Scindia said at India Mobile Congress.