TRAI dismisses arguments of satcom competing with terrestrial telecom networks in near term

New Delhi: TRAI on Friday rejected arguments that satcom services would compete directly with terrestrial mobile offerings, as the telecom regulator cited the "vast difference" between their network capacities and scale of operations.

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) argued that the two services are complementary.

"There is no comparison on competition, these are complementary services," TRAI Chairman Anil Kumar Lahoti said at a briefing.

Asked if TRAI's recommendation on satcom spectrum would deal a setback to terrestrial players, Lahoti said: "there is no loss (to telcos) because of these recommendations."

He was addressing questions after TRAI on Friday recommended that satellite communication companies like Elon Musk's Starlink pay 4 per cent of their adjusted gross revenue (AGR) as spectrum charges to the government -- a rate steeper than what these firms had been lobbying for.

In its presentation, TRAI said the satellite services will remain largely complementary to terrestrial services in near term, and highlighted the differences in scale of operations and capacities involved.