OneWeb allocated trial spectrum

Eutelsat OneWeb have been allocated trial satellite spectrum in both, Ka (27.5 to 29.1 GHz and 29.5 to 30 GHz band) and Ku bands (14 GHz) for a period of 90 days via the administrative route at a nominal application fee. The company aims to launch commercial satellite communication services by June this year.

In a recent interview, Hughes Communications India (HCIPL), President and Managing Director, Shivaji Chatterjee had said that OneWeb will have an early-mover advantage in India, as competitors who are in fray to provide satellite communications service in India are either in the development stage or lag behind in data link speed. HCIPL and OneWeb have a six-year distribution partner agreement to provide Low Earth orbit (LEO) connectivity services across India.

OneWeb will have a significant impact in the mobility space — aero, maritime and land mobility, cellular backhaul for 4G, defense, off-shore rigs, remote bank and enterprise branches. The company is ideally placed to cater to the requirements of scantily populated villages where it can provide a 50-200 megabit per second backhaul which then can be further distributed to different consumers in that village — homes, consumer devices, schools, health centres etc. It will also offer satellite connectivity to provide vital backhaul to the telcos for boosting mobile broadband coverage in the rural markets.

The company has no plans to provide a direct-to-mobile kind of service like Starlink, as the technology is not yet developed and mature. Starlink is working on technology to provide satellite services directly on smartphones. On March 3, Musk announced that SpaceX has achieved peak download speed of 17 mbps from satellite direct to unmodified Samsung Android phone. Starlink has applied for a permit to provide services in India but it is yet to get an approval.

The new Telecommunication Act, 2023, has given legislative backing to allocation of satellite spectrum via the administrative route. The administrative allocation method is anticipated to significantly reduce the time required to launch satellite broadband services, as it eliminates the lengthy and often competitive auction process. This could lead to a faster rollout of services and more immediate impacts on connectivity across the nation.

The interim allocation of commercial satellite spectrum in the two bands is now awaited.

CT Bureau