Reliance Jio has requested telecom regulator Trai to issue a new document on spectrum allotment for satellite communication, claiming that it misses the critical topic of establishing a fair playing field between satellite and terrestrial services. In a letter to Anil Kumar Lahoti, Chairman of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), Reliance Jio requested amendment of the consultation document on establishing regulations for "terms and conditions for the assignment of spectrum for certain satellite-based commercial communication services".

"We are surprised that the consultation document totally ignores the essential issue of maintaining an equal playing field for satellite-based and terrestrial access providers. This exclusion has resulted in the absence of any queries addressing the necessity to provide an equal playing field amongst these services," Reliance Jio (RJIL) said.

According to Jio, the removal of this aspect would prevent stakeholders from effectively considering and providing important suggestions to Trai, undermining the fairness of suggestions and the government's goal to foster balanced competition.

On September 27, 2024, Trai launched a consultation process to investigate the methods and pricing for allocating spectrum to satellite firms to offer calling, messaging, internet, and other services in the country.

The judgment on spectrum pricing and distribution technique would clear the way for satellite-based internet services in India from businesses such as Elon Musk's Starlink, the Bharti Group's OneWeb, and Jio Satellite Communications.

Jio stated that the consultation document does not fully address competitive fairness and is not in line with a Department of Telecommunications (DoT) reference dated July 11, 2024, making the consultation paper and its recommendations open to legal challenges.

Jio and Vodafone Idea have protested the provision of spectrum to satellite providers without an auction.

Jio said that the document favors administrative spectrum assignment, which violates the Telecommunications Act of 2023.

It stated that the Telecommunications Act of 2023 prioritizes auction as the default way of allocating spectrum for commercial services.

"We respectfully urge Trai to reconsider and revise the consultation paper, incorporating specific questions that address the level-playing field issues between satellite and terrestrial networks. Both auction and administrative assignment methods should remain open for stakeholders input, with due consideration given to competitive fairness," Jio said.

Trai has invited comments on 21 points, including a method for determining spectrum charges, frequency bands for the satellite communications services, duration of assignment, and provision for surrendering spectrum, etc.

The regulator has fixed October 18 for comments and October 25 for counter comments on the paper.