In news– The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has released recommendations on ‘Licensing Framework for Establishing and Operating Satellite Earth Station Gateway (SESG).
Key recommendations-
- The telecom regulator suggested a separate satellite earth station gateway (SESG) license under the Indian Telegraph Act.
- The SESG license will not form part of the Unified License (UL) and the service area for the license shall be at a national level.
- TRAI also recommended that 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 permission.
- TRAI added that SESG may provide satellite-based resources to any entity, which holds license/permission granted by the department of telecommunication (DoT) or ministry of information and broadcasting (MIB) and is permitted to use satellite media for the provision of services under its license/ permission.
- According to the recommendations, the SESG licensee may establish SESGs in respect of one or more government-approved satellite systems and it shall not be permitted to provide any kind of telecommunication service or broadcasting service directly to the consumers, for the provision of which, a separate license/authorisation/permission is required from the government.
- Trai recommends the SESG licence shall be valid for 20 years from the effective date of the licence with a provision of renewal for 10 years.
- It also indicated that only the companies registered under the Companies Act shall be eligible to apply for the grant of their license.
What is a Satellite Earth Station Gateway?
- A satellite gateway, also referred to as a teleport or hub, is a ground station that transmits data to/from the satellite to the local area network.
- It houses the antennas and equipment that convert the Radio Frequency (RF) signal to an Internet Protocol (IP) signal for terrestrial connectivity
Source: PIB
