TRAI releases recommendations on ‘Licensing Framework for Establishing and Operating Satellite Earth Station Gateway (SESG).

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India on 29^th November 2022, released recommendations on ‘Licensing Framework for Establishing and Operating Satellite Earth Station Gateway (SESG)’. Based on the comments/ inputs received from the stakeholders and on its own analysis, TRAI has finalized its Recommendations.

The salient features of these Recommendations are as follows:

• There shall be a separate Satellite Earth Station Gateway (SESG) License under the Section 4 of Indian Telegraph Act. The SESG License will not form part of the Unified License (UL). The Service Area for the SESG License shall be at National Level.
• The SESG Licensee may establish, maintain, and work SESGs anywhere within the territory of India for all types of satellite systems for which the Government has given the permission.
• The SESG Licensee may provide satellite-based resources to any entity, which holds license/ permission granted by DoT or Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (MIB) and is permitted to use satellite media for the provision of services under its license/ permission.
• The SESG Licensee shall not be permitted to provide any kind of telecommunication service or broadcasting service directly to the consumers, for provision of which, a separate license/ authorization/ permission is required from the Government.
• The SESG Licensee shall meet the instructions/ directions of the Licensor (i.e. DoT) issued from time to time in the interest of national security.
• The telecommunication and broadcasting service licensees/ permission holders, who are eligible to provide satellite-based communication services in India, shall have the option to establish their own satellite earth station gateways, if permitted under their licenses/ permissions, or use the SESGs established by the SESG licensees by connecting their baseband equipment with the SESGs at the terms and conditions offered by the SESG licensees.
• The service licensee/ permission holders, being served by the SESG Licensee, shall install their own baseband equipment at the SESG established by the SESG Licensee.