India’s Regulator Says Yes to Satellite-to-Phone, If the Carriers Agree
TRAI’s 5 November recommendations would let satellites talk straight to ordinary phones on India’s mobile bands. Holders of the new satellite network license would not be the ones selling it.
India’s Regulator Says Yes to Satellite-to-Phone, If the Carriers Agree
TRAI’s 5 November recommendations would let satellites talk straight to ordinary phones on India’s mobile bands. Holders of the new satellite network license would not be the ones selling it.
22
Licensed service areas across which the holders of a mobile channel must agree before a satellite can use it for direct-to-device service
6
Mobile bands TRAI lists for direct-to-device service, from 600 to 2100 MHz
8%
Recommended authorization fee on adjusted gross revenue for the new satellite network license, with no minimum
20 yrs
Term of the new national license, renewable for up to 20 more
India’s telecom regulator has decided it does not want to wait for the rest of the world on satellite-to-phone service. On 5 November 2026 the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) sent the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) a set of recommendations that would let satellites connect directly to ordinary phones on six of India’s mobile bands, from 600 to 2100 MHz, without waiting for the World Radiocommunication Conference in 2027 (WRC-27). Nothing is final until the government adopts it, but the shape of the market TRAI has in mind is already clear, and the carriers sit at the center of it.
So, will India allow satellite-to-phone service?
If the government follows TRAI, yes, and you would buy it from your mobile carrier. TRAI recommends direct-to-device (D2D) service on both mobile-satellite spectrum (L-band and S-band) and the carriers’ own mobile spectrum, the second on a non-interference, non-protection basis. Holders of a new satellite network license would sell capacity to licensed service providers but “may not provide telecommunication services directly to users.” And a satellite can only use a carrier’s mobile spectrum if the carriers that together hold that channel across all 22 of India’s licensed service areas say yes.
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- 02What TRAI recommended
- 03Who gets to sell it
- 04Which spectrum, and whose permission
- 05What the license costs
- 06What gets built on the ground
- 07What happens now
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