Satellite-based Connectivity: TRAI Extends Deadline to Apr 23 to Submit Paper

On Friday, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India extended the deadline to submit their suggestions on satellite-based connectivity. Now, the stakeholders can submit the suggestions for low-bit rate applications by April 23.

Satellite-based Connectivity?

On March 12, TRAI had released the consultation paper on "Licensing Framework for Satellite based connectivity for low bit rate applications". Following the release, the regulator invited comments on framework for both commercial and captive usage.

TRAI said that it has extended the deadlines, in a press release on Friday. Now, the deadline to submit a written comment is 23rd April while to submit counter comments, 7th May is the deadline. The regulator also added that the move comes after industry requested for it.

The low bit-rate applications (below 64 kbits per second) are sensor-based applications. Interestingly, ATMs and IoT devices also use low bit-rate connectivity it provides. This technology also finds use in managing traffic and tracking vehicles.

Notably, the DoT wrote to TRAI in November last year to furnish recommendations for licensing guidelines. These recommendations included entry fee, license fee, bank guarantee, spectrum usage charges/royalty fee, and so on. Moreover, these recommendations stood for satellite-based connectivity for both commercial and captive usage.

TRAI, in its paper, said that the technology can find use in a vast variety of sectors. These sectors include agriculture, smart farming, deep-water applications, mission-critical services, oil and gas, fisheries, forestry, logistics, mining, industrial logistics, railways, remote utilities, disaster preparedness and many more.