Broadband India Forum (BIF) announced the hosting of the 5^th edition of its annual flagship summit, India SatCom, in New Delhi on November 28, 2019. The theme for India SatCom 2019 is Satellite Applications for Inclusive Growth, wherein key government representatives and industry players will come together to share their opinions and insights.

The summit will also see participation from leading Government and Private Technology stakeholders, and various experts in the Satellite Communications domain both from India and abroad. The objective of the summit is to come up with mutually amicable solutions, so as to eventually augment the facilitation of world-class satellite communications service and provisions in India. The technology, in turn, would be focused towards enabling inclusive growth across all the socio-economic strata in the country.

The event is expected to be attended by eminent senior dignitaries, including:

The summit will delve on some of the key issues that would help enhance the growth of Satcom, viz. in-flight and maritime connectivity (IFMC), advancements/innovations in Satellite Technologies with specific focus on India with a view to providing affordable broadband throughout the country, gauging its economic potential and identifying steps for ease of doing business in the Satcom and Broadcasting sector in India, and the perspective of the Government’s forward-looking policies of opening up the sector, as envisaged in the NDCP 2018.

“We are tremendously proud of DOS/ISRO’s achievements in securing India’s position in the global map through successful launch of satellites for scientific & technological missions. There also lies an immense scope for growth of commercial satellite services in India, especially in consideration of delivering broadband to the vast and varied demographics and challenging topographical expanse of the country. Going forward, optimised policies and regulations, coupled with adoption of modern technologies can make Satcom a very affordable option for India, bringing it to the forefront for proliferation of ubiquitous broadband across every nook & corner of the nation,” said TV Ramachandran, President, Broadband India Forum.

A joint study by Broadband India Forum and Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) titled ‘Liberalising Satellite Communications in India: Opportunities for Enhanced Economic Growth’ will also be unveiled by the Chief Guest and other senior dignitaries. A Senior Representative from ICRIER will share views and opinions on the economic potential of the satcom sector in India, with special emphasis on how liberalisation of the sector could help open up multiple opportunities for inclusive economic growth.

Digital India requires broadband connectivity across the length and breadth of the country. While terrestrial connectivity (Mobile Broadband) is feasible & economically viable to deploy in urban areas, when it comes to rural and remote areas, the cost of providing terrestrial connectivity shoots up by almost 10-20x, thereby making it economically unviable for terrestrial technologies to reach the last 20% of the population. To top it all, are the huge challenges posed due to RoW (Right of Way). It is in such areas that Broadband through Satellite serves as an effective solution as it does not have to overcome the challenges associated with Right of Way and the huge costs associated with roll out of terrestrial technologies.

Broadband India Forum (BIF) has been working persistently towards the promotion of Satcom liberalisation and its contribution towards broadband proliferation across the country, especially in the unserved and underserved regions.