India’s Satcom Dreams Are Grounded In Reality, Not Disruption

There’s usually nothing like a regulator’s spectrum paper to send telecom stocks into a cold sweat. But this time, India’s satellite spectrum move has done the opposite. It has cleared the skies for Reliance Industries’ subsidiary Jio Infocomm and Bharti Airtel, and investors can breathe easy.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s latest recommendations on satellite communications are ambitious, but not aggressive. The policy pitch is inclusion, not disruption. 

The telecom regulator wants to allocate a generous swathe of satellite spectrum across multiple bands but not through the high-drama of auctions. Instead, it’s pushing for administrative assignment for five years, extendable by two, which is in step with global practice and signals that the government is chasing connectivity in remote areas, not a windfall from spectrum bids.

Measured Costs
The financial burden is modest and predictable. There is a 4% spectrum usage charge on adjusted gross revenue and an 8% licence fee—nothing that would prompt Bharti Airtel or Reliance Jio to flinch. Fixed satellite services come at a base rate of ₹3,500 per MHz. For non-geostationary operators, there’s a ₹500 surcharge per urban subscriber, but rural and remote users—the real target for satellite connectivity—are exempt. 

This is not a policy designed to create new satellite telecom companies or upend the market. It is about supporting the players already in orbit and filling the digital gaps where fibre and towers don’t reach.

Telecom analysts are clear that satellite systems, especially low-Earth orbit ones, simply don’t have the capacity to compete with 5G terrestrial networks. In perspective, a satellite constellation that can serve 10,000–20,000 urban users will barely make a dent in a city like New Delhi, which demands 5 million broadband lines. No contest there.

Then there’s the price barrier. Satellite terminal equipment can cost more than ₹30,000, while terrestrial wireless routers often come with refundable deposits of just ₹2,000–₹2,500. Monthly data plans via satellite would also price out the average Indian user, especially when compared to the razor-thin tariffs of Indian fibre and wireless broadband. These are not Airtel and Jio’s core customers to begin with.

The direct-to-device service being tested by Elon Musk’s Starlink sounds exciting, but remains grounded by technical and regulatory drag. Spectrum sharing, user authentication, ground station infrastructure—none of it is simple. And crucially, none of it can be done without tying up with licensed telecom operators. 

Even Starlink, with its global ambitions, will have to partner with Jio and Airtel to make any headway in India. That’s why Jio and Airtel aren’t resisting the satcom push. They are embracing it. 

Unsurprisingly, both have already started making quiet moves in this direction. Jio and Airtel see satellite as a strategic extension, not a threat. A way to deepen rural reach, not a disruption to their core business model. Vodafone Idea, still entangled in legacy issues and delayed 5G rollout woes, is likely to sit this one out.

The takeaway from TRAI’s satcom note is that satellite is for the last mile, not the mainstream. It’s an inclusionary tool, not an instrument of market upheaval. A way to plug in the last village, not a lever to reset India’s telecom power structure. 

For Airtel and Jio, it’s business as usual, with one more instrument in their connectivity kit. For investors, it’s a welcome sign that India’s digital ambitions will expand without destabilising the sector’s economics. It is a policy for bridging divides, not for breaking the bank.