Bharti Airtel Chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal on Friday said spectrum for satellite connectivity in rural and hard-to-reach areas can be given on shared basis, but when it comes to urban areas, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and the government need to come out with a policy that does not discriminate against the terrestrial providers.
Satellite connectivity is indeed required to serve dark, underserved areas, Mittal said, adding, “We fully welcome that”.
“There are lots of parts of the world and lots of people still living in dark areas which need to be lit up. The only way it can be done is through satellite broadband connectivity,” he said on the sidelines of School of Ultimate Leadership (SOUL) conclave 2025.
He said his company can start satellite services once the government gives the approval, and also can lead in the Satellite services market if the ‘go ahead’ comes from the government at the earliest.
Further, Mittal said that Airtel is one of the leading players in Satellite services around the world already and it is just that the company was waiting for the permissions for the Indian operations.
“So I think it’s a great initiative, and we have already sought our permissions to launch…as soon as we are given a green light, we will launch our services,” he added.
Urban areas
He also pointed out that it was only in urban areas that the TRAI and Department of Telecommunications (DoT) need to come out with policy which does not discriminate against the terrestrial providers.
Talking about telecom services in India, he said that for optimum structure for telecom industry it should be three-four players.
“I personally feel there will be three to four operators, including BSNL, to serve the country…So I think the right size is three to four, no more than that,” he said adding that India has the lowest telecom tariffs anywhere in the world, allowing users to enjoy 30-60 GB of data a month for only $2.5-3.