Satellite communication, commonly called satcom, is not a threat to telecom operators as the services will be complementary to the latter and the pricing will always be at a premium to mobile, Bharti Airtel MD Gopal Vittal said.

He, according to a report in the Economic Times, added that the new Telecom Bill has brought much needed clarity on the issue, and addressed 4-5 other key areas for the industry like easing compliances, providing a roadmap for spectrum allocation and streamlining right of way (RoW) issues, etc.

“We don’t see it as a threat, we see it as an opportunity, because from our perspective, we are going to be distributing satellite services to a remote location, like somebody needs it on a ship or on an airline. It’s a totally different use case,” Vittal told ET.

He was reacting to the Telecommunications Bill 2023 provision to give spectrum administratively, or without auctions, for satellite services, a stance which was backed by Airtel but was opposed by its rivals Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea.

He said satellite services will be totally complementary and not compete with terrestrial networks.