Star Turn in Telecom

With competitors joining hands, the ball shifts to Trai's court for a framework that supports synergies

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The agreements between Bharti Airtel and Jio Platforms with Elon Musk's SpaceX to market Starlink's satellite internet services in the country mark a watershed moment in the telecommunications landscape. The pacts indicate that telecom operators have finally acknowledged a crucial reality: Terrestrial mobile networks and satellite communications are not competitors but complementary technologies.

Satellite and terrestrial services are quite dissimilar. While terrestrial networks can serve both hand-held and rooftop devices seamlessly, satellite services face significant hurdles when it comes to mobile devices, failing to match the functionality of their terrestrial counterparts. The only feasible overlap for satellite and terrestrial services lies in fixed wireless access (FWA) solutions (broadband services).

Here also satellite providers face significant challenges compared to their terrestrial counterparts because their terminals are far more complex due to their need to track fast-moving satellites in low earth orbit, whereas cellular base transceiver stations (BTS) remain stationary.