Industry body Cellular Operators’ Association of India (COAI) has approached the Telecom Department to raise concerns over Trai recommendations on the satcom spectrum, saying “incorrect assumptions” have led to unjustifiably low spectrum charges for satellite services relative to terrestrial networks.

In a letter dated May 29, COAI claimed that Trai’s recommendations are based on incorrect assumptions and that their implementation will hit the sustainability of terrestrial services, which form the foundation of India’s digital infrastructure, a PTI report from New Delhi stated yesterday.

COAI has urged the Department of Telecom (DoT) to form a committee to “undertake a comprehensive review of the recommendations in their entirety, ensuring the process is guided by principles of fairness, transparency, and equity and also give an opportunity to TSPs (telcos) to share their views regarding the same”.

Cellular Operators’ Association of India argued that the recommendations provide a regulatory advantage to commercial NGSO satellites against terrestrial broadband service providers and, if accepted by the DoT in their present form, will undermine competition and create a non-level playing field.

COAI said that Trai’s recommendations do not appear to address the most fundamental and contentious issue – the lack of a level playing field between terrestrial service providers and satellite operators serving the same market.

“The said recommendations are based on incorrect assumptions and implementation of these recommendations will impact the sustainability of terrestrial services that form the foundation of India’s digital infrastructure,” it said.

COAI, in its letter, claimed that Trai has underestimated the potential capacities of satellite networks while possibly overstating those of terrestrial networks. This, it said, “resulted in a flawed foundation for the entire exercise”.

“Use of accurate capacity data from both terrestrial and satellite operators would have yielded a more transparent and reliable assessment of respective capacities of satellite and terrestrial networks,” it said.

The “fundamental flaw” in the capacity assumptions exercise undermines the DoT’s clear mandate to ensure competitive parity between satellite and terrestrial services.

“Incorrect assumptions have led to unjustifiably low spectrum charges for satellite services relative to terrestrial networks” said the letter addressed to DoT Secretary Neeraj Mittal.

Trai’s current recommendations fall short of ensuring a level playing field, COAI claimed. The proposed spectrum charges are even lower than the administrative fees currently levied on GSO-based VSAT services, which do not compete with terrestrial networks, it added.