Indian telco Jio (part of the Reliance Jio Infocomm business) is urging India’s regulators to speed up their approvals process for the Jio satellite to consumer plans.

The Jio Space Technology with Luxembourg-based SES scheme was designed to expand broadband access to remote and underserved areas of India. While the joint venture was formed in 2022, the commercial launch of services is still said to be “expected to happen soon”, following necessary regulatory approvals.

The Jio complaint was directed at India’s Telecoms Regulatory Authority (TRAI), and Jio is asking TRAI to include the L and S spectrum bands – currently designated for Mobile Satellite Services (MSS) – within the auction framework for telecom operators, arguing that these frequencies are critical for enabling satellite-based direct-to-device (D2D) communication and driving future 6G innovations.

In its submission to TRAI’s consultation paper on spectrum auctions, Jio said that the L (1–2 GHz) and S (2–4 GHz) bands are increasingly being adopted globally for satellite-to-phone connectivity and should be part of India’s IMT spectrum roadmap.

“The L and S bands should be treated on par with IMT spectrum and included in the auction. This will enable a unified, software-defined network architecture that supports D2D and other non-terrestrial innovations under the 6G framework, while significantly expanding network coverage,” Jio stated.

The company highlighted that global players like Starlink already use spectrum in the 1600–2600 MHz range for D2D services, effectively transforming satellites into “base stations in the sky.” Similarly, Apple’s collaboration with Globalstar leverages the S-band for satellite connectivity on iPhones. “Including these bands in India’s auction framework will open up opportunities for both global and domestic operators to participate in the growing D2D market with dedicated spectrum resources,” Jio added.

Jio is not alone. Starlink and Eutelsat’s OneWeb are also affected by India’s lack of progress. Indeed, it has been reported that some 6 years after the first OneWeb satellites were deployed (six were launched in February 2019) OneWeb is still waiting for assorted Indian permissions despite having the mighty influence of partner Bharti Global.

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Categories: Articles, Business, Spectrum

Tags: india, Jio, TRAI