The government on Wednesday unveiled new policy reforms for satellite communications services to ease procedures and streamline evacuation procedures and prompted the telecom industry to accelerate the deployment of 5G towers.
Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnav said that the current speed of installation of towers is only Rs 2500 per week. 5G is “very low” and needs to be increased to at least 10,000 per week.
Vaishnav dragged telecommunications Industry calls for slow deployment of 5G towers The government has done its job in introducing sectoral reforms, and it is now up to the industry to take steps to enable a faster 5G rollout.
However, he declined to explain what the consequences would be for companies that are not heeding the government’s call to accelerate the deployment of 5G towers.
On the reforms, the minister said that for installing 5G antenna on street furniture, approval of SACFA (Standing Advisory Committee on Frequency Allocation) will not be required, and the process has been made online.
Some procedural improvements related to SATCOM include allowing VSAT terminals to be mounted on any mobile vehicle, thus streamlining the current “cumbersome procedures”, self-certification of antennas, and the NOCC process with a simplified procedure that reduces the timelines to 8. will reduce it. Currently months up to 6 weeks.
Telecom Deptt Portable chargers for near-field communications and vehicle-related electronics such as three bands have also been completely de-licensed. This includes the 865-868MHz band (for .) internet of things and machine-to-machine communication), 433 – 434.7 MHz (in-vehicle equipment) and some other bands for contactless inductive chargers.
Satellite communication reforms will ensure that digital services reach the remotest parts of the country. The minister said that satellite communication services are expected to start in 7-8 months.
“It will take around 3-4 months for the telecom regulator Try Come out with your recommendation on this. After that, whatever is the auction process or other process, we have to follow that,” Vaishnav said, adding that licenses have already been given to five entities.
liveThe license has also been approved on Wednesday, the minister said. OneWeb have obtained a license while Elon Musk‘s SpaceX Starlink has now applied.
It is pertinent to mention that broadband-to-space services are being seen as the next frontier in India’s growing communications market.
The stage is set for some high-voltage action as big names like Jio and OneWeb gear up for a piece of the lucrative satellite-based broadband services market in India.
Nelco and Telesat have also completed successful LEO demonstrations in the country for enterprise, telecom and government sectors. Space segment broadband also being keenly watched by SpaceX starlink And heroineProject Kuiper.
On Sunday, OneWeb announced the successful deployment of 36 satellites launched by ISROThe commercial arm NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota, India.
OneWeb – the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite communications company where Bharti Global is the largest investor – said it is committed to providing connectivity across the length and breadth of India by 2023.
Meanwhile, Vaishnav also said that the issues have been resolved with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).
He said the industry can share its views and suggestions on the draft Telecom Bill 2022 by November 10. Several players have already given their opinion on the draft bill.
The draft Telecom Bill is expected to be passed by Parliament by the monsoon session of 2023. The members of the Standing Committee have decided to take the bill as its draft “so that whatever feedback they give can be incorporated before it is taken to Parliament”.
The DoT also released the master document for a National Frequency Allocation Plan (NFAP), Radio Frequency Planning, Spectrum Auction and Government Policy Formulation.