Consultation Paper on Captive VSAT CUG Policy Issues

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has started a comprehensive review of various fee and charges related to captive VSAT (Very Small Aperture Terminal) licenses, including entry fee, license fee, royalty charges and bank guarantee. The consultation paper ‘ Captive VSAT CUG (Closed User Group) Policy issues ‘ also seeks to remove the difference in license fee for operating two hubs (earth stations that control and monitor activities of remote terminals).

TRAI received a reference from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) on March 16, 2016. After receiving the reference, the authority consulted some of the captive VSAT licensees, who brought out some additional issues related to applicability of royalty charges and delay in approvals in augmentation of bandwidth for captive VSAT. The authority has decided to include these issues also for consultation of the stakeholders, so as to provide comprehensive recommendations on issues concerning captive VSAT licensees. Written comments on the issues raised in the consultation paper are invited from the stakeholders by November 25, 2016 and counter comments by December 9, 2016.