Bharti Group-backed OneWeb, Reliance Jio, and Elon Musk's Starlink could potentially launch satellite broadband services in India sooner than anticipated, as the Telecommunications Bill 2023 supports the 'non-auctions route' for satellite spectrum allocation. Industry executives suggest that with the bill's approval, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) can directly manage satellite spectrum allocations, expediting the process compared to potential delays through auctions.
The move to grant mobility services authorisation to Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite Services (GMPCS) licence holders will potentially pave the way for companies such as Elon Musk-owned Starlink - which has applied for the licence - to compete with mobile service providers, experts said. An inter-ministerial panel involving the ministries of defence and home affairs, departments of telecommunications and space, and the cabinet secretariat will decide on the matter after security clearance, officials aware of the details told ET.
In what’s quickly becoming a virtual world, students with no or slow internet are being left behind. So, school administrators in rural Wise County reached