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Fight over satellite broadband spectrum rages in India

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Billionaire Ambani at odds with Elon Musk's Starlink

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Reliance asking for consultation to start afresh, letter

shows

By Aditya Kalra and Aditi Shah

NEW DELHI, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Indian billionaire Mukesh

Ambani's Reliance has privately argued that the telecom

regulator incorrectly concluded that home satellite broadband

spectrum should be allocated by New Delhi and not auctioned,

intensifying a face-off with Elon Musk's Starlink.

How spectrum for satellite services in India will be given

out has been a contentious issue since last year.

Musk's Starlink and its global peers like Amazon's ( AMZN ) Project

Kuiper back an administrative allocation, while Ambani - Asia's

wealthiest man who runs India's Reliance Jio - is arguing for an

auction process.

The current dispute is over interpretation of Indian law

that some in the industry say paved the way for the allocation

of spectrum last year as Musk wanted.

But Reliance is arguing no provisions are in place for

satellite broadband services for individual or home users,

industry sources said on Sunday.

The telecom regulator, TRAI, is currently holding a public

consultation but Reliance in a private Oct. 10 letter asked for

the process to be started afresh as the watchdog has

"pre-emptively interpreted" that allocation is the way forward,

not auction.

"TRAI seems to have concluded, without any basis, that

spectrum assignment should be administrative," Reliance's senior

regulatory affairs official Kapoor Singh Guliani wrote in the

letter to India's telecoms minister, Jyotiraditya Scindia.

TRAI has in its consultation paper indicated Indian laws

mandate allocation of spectrum for such services without

conducting any studies, Reliance added in its letter, which is

not public.

Reliance and the telecoms ministry did not immediately

respond to requests for comment.

A senior TRAI official said on Sunday that due process is

being followed and Reliance is welcome to share feedback during

the consultation period.

The recommendations of the watchdog will form the key basis

for the government's decision on the matter.

Deloitte says India's satellite broadband service market

will grow 36% a year to reach $1.9 billion by 2030.

Tesla boss Musk is keen to launch Starlink in

India, though a final decision on spectrum allocation remains a

sticking point.

Starlink argues administrative allotment of licences is in

line with a global trend. Reliance says an auction is needed for

a level-playing field as foreign players could offer voice and

data services and compete with traditional players, Reuters has

reported.

Reliance's Jio is India's No. 1 telecoms player with 480

million users.