With the iPhone 14 model, Apple may have introduced limited satellite connectivity for emergency services only in Canada and the US, but the feature could also become mainstream in countries like India within two years, experts said.
At present, consumer smartphones in India do not support satellite connectivity. This facility is available only for ‘Satphones’ with heavy antennas and specialized software. The handsets are primarily used in areas without cellular or WiFi network coverage for marine applications and select activities such as trekking.
Experts said Apple’s move reflects the growing interest of satellite operators, internet and telecommunications service providers and software designers to connect regular smartphones to satellites and India could also benefit from the trend.
In fact, on September 1, Hiroshi Lockheimer, a senior vice president at Google, tweeted that the company is “designing for satellites”, and that the feature may be enabled in the “next version” of Android.
Anil Prakash, director general of the Satellite Industry Association of India’s (SIA), industry body, said the center is evaluating how users can get easier access to satellite connectivity, which is a feature of Apple on its latest iPhone 14. are equal.
“Currently, any use of satellite connectivity in consumer space is governed by the Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite (GMPCS) under the Department of Telecommunications, which a person needs to comply with in order to subscribe to satellite connectivity services in India. is,” he said. Told.
The GMPCS is a clause under the Unified Licensing Structure of DoT introduced in the National Telecom Policy, 2012. It allows operators to offer satellite-based connectivity and enables users to obtain necessary permissions from DoT to use satellite phones or satphones in India.
On 26 August 2021, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India issued a set of recommendations to liberalize and ease the process of obtaining licenses to own and operate satellites. This paved the way for companies like Elon Musk-backed Starlink and Sunil Bharti Mittal’s Airtel-backed OneWeb to launch services in India.
However, challenges such as the complicated process of obtaining a license have been a hindrance. At present, BSNL customers are required to obtain a certificate of authorization from DoT, which needs to be submitted along with their customer acquisition form in order to process the application. Rishi Anand, a partner at law firm DSK Legal, said: “There have been discussions about the telecom industry on relaxing the rules for satellite connectivity, but no statutory amendments have been made to enable the feature in smartphones.” In June 2017, State- BSNL launched Global Satellite Phone service in partnership with UK satellite operator Inmarsat. Eligible devices are limited. ISAT Phone-II of INMARSAT, however, is a handset listed by BSNL. The price of the phone is approx 70,000, and the tariff is estimated 35 per minute for local satellite calls and 260 per minute for national roaming. Needless to say, this is much more than the cost of a call on a regular mobile phone. Consumers will also have to pay spectrum usage charges, which is approx. 15,000 per year, Prakash said.
“The charges will not allow for increased satellite services, but the DoT’s steps to revise satellite connectivity rules could significantly reduce costs.”
To be sure, new policies can bring consumer-facing companies into the satellite sector, which can help reduce costs.
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