US lobby group jumps into the debate on to auction or assign satellite spectrum

The US India Business Council (USIBC) has stepped into the fray of the Indian satellite auction debate. The Washington DC-backed lobby group is asking the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India to consider the administrative allocation of spectrum over satellite spectrum auction.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has commenced the consultation process on the process through which satellite spectrum will be assigned to the newly liberalised space sector.

As the interests of telecom companies and space technology companies clash on the matter, the industry debates whether the satellite spectrum needs to be auctioned or administratively assigned.

The USIBC which has over a dozen companies involved in commercial space, including several dedicated satellite communications (satcom) companies, as well as a broad set of satcom users from the telecom, defence and industrial sectors, is asking the regulator to assign the spectrum administratively.

The US lobby group believes that the auction of spectrum is not in the public interest and could result in market failure, especially as a few cash-rich satellite companies could capture the spectrum and prevent other companies in the satellite communication space from entering the market.

‘Anti-competitive’
“As satellite spectrum is non-rivalrous in nature, i.e., multiple satellite operators can use the same spectrum without diminishing the availability of that spectrum for others. When a resource has such characteristics and can be used in this manner, auctioning satellite spectrum is inefficient, exclusionary, and hence anti-competitive,” the association observed.

The USIBC observed that auctioning of the spectrum will not only disrupt the newer satellite technologies which are yet to come to India – but it could also disrupt the competitive dynamics of existing industries which are based on satellite communications, such as, broadcasting. This could subsequently have major implications on freedom of speech as larger broadcasters could crowd out smaller players from ever getting spectrum.

For example, in the broadcast and cable services, administrative allocation allows the C-Band to be shared between 350 broadcasters and more than 1,700 distribution platform operators (DPOs) for channel uplink and downlink. If this were to be auctioned, many of these broadcasters and DPOs would not have the resources to acquire the necessary spectrum. Hence, auctioning creates entry barriers to the market for spectrum and many small broadcasters who are currently in the market would be deprived of the opportunity to broadcast their channels.

“This would hinder the distribution of content, potentially violating the freedom of speech and expression of broadcasters, as the right to propagate ideas (say, in the form of TV channels) has been recognised by the Supreme Court as being part of the right to free speech and expression,” the USIBC added. The Hindu BusinessLine