India’s satellite-to-phone plan faces industry divide over telecom-led model

Among key issues, telecom operators and satellite operators are at loggerheads over the argument of “regulatory parity.” While operators such as Jio and Airtel want satellite companies to face the exact same strict rules as traditional telcos, including stringent Quality of Service (QoS) benchmarks, hefty licence fees, and heavy financial bank guarantees. Satellite firms like AST SpaceMobile, Lynk Global, and Globalstar, meanwhile, want a “light-touch” regime, arguing that imposing heavy legacy telecom rules, hefty entry fees, and performance bank guarantees on a nascent, highly capital-intensive space industry will kill commercial viability before it even starts.