NEW DELHI: In a rare show of unity between rivals, telecom tycoon Sunil Bharti Mittal has joined hands with Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio to advocate for satellite companies to be held to the same standards as legacy telecom firms.
Both giants are pushing for satellite service providers to pay licence fees and buy spectrum for their operations, ensuring a level-playing field for all players in the telecom space.
Speaking at the India Mobile Congress, Mittal, the head of Bharti Airtel, emphasised that telecom companies already extend satellite services to remote regions of the country. However, he pointed out that satellite firms eyeing urban markets must be subject to the same obligations as traditional telecom providers.
Level playing field
“These satellite companies, which aim to serve retail customers in urban areas, need to pay telecom licence just like everyone else,” Mittal said in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “They must purchase spectrum as telecom companies do and adhere to the same network security standards.”
This stance aligns Mittal with his long-standing competitor, Mukesh Ambani, whose Reliance Jio recently opposed the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) recommendation to allocate satellite broadband spectrum without an auction. Jio insists that auction-based allocation is essential for maintaining competitive fairness.
While satellite providers, including Elon Musk’s Starlink and Amazon’s Project Kuiper, favour an administrative allocation model, Ambani and Mittal have come together, setting aside their rivalry to protect the interests of telecom companies, ensuring that all players operate under uniform regulations.
