The Department of Telecom has abolished the Network Operations and Control Center (NOCC) charges for telecom service licensees for use of the space segment.
In a statement on May 6, Telecom Deptt Accordingly, there shall be no NOCC fee for use of space segment for all DoT licensees for commercial/captive VSAT services, GMPCS, NLD, and other telecom licensees having integrated license/standalone license.
This order has become effective from 1st April 2022.
Earlier, the department had levied NOCC fee as 21 lakh per transponder per annum for 36 MHz spectrum on pro-rata basis. In addition, it levied NOCC fee which 6,000 for each test of antennas that are used to receive and transmit signals.
A PTI report said AK Bhatt, director general of satellite industry body ISPA, said the DoT has amended the unified license to allow satellite-based IoT services, land mobility services and removal of NOCC monitoring charges.
Bhatt said, “We believe that these progressive policy steps are in the right direction and demonstrate the commitment of the government in supporting the growth of digital communications by leveraging the potential and potential of the satellite communications industry. We thank TRAI for their vision, Thank you also for the support and support. Positive recommendations for the growing space sector.”
He further added that the industry hopes that this measure is just the beginning and is the first of many reform measures for the sector.