TRAI Recommends a New Satellite Network Authorisation: Infrastructure Providers Can Serve Telecom Firms, Not Users
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has recommended a new framework for satellite communication. It creates a fresh category called the Satellite Communication Network Provider Authorisation.
Under the proposed Satellite Communication Network-as-a-Service (SCNaaS) model, these authorised providers can build and run satellite networks and rent out the network infrastructure and capacity to telecom operators and other eligible service providers.
These network providers will not be allowed to sell telecom services directly to consumers. Customers will be served by the licensed telecom or satellite service providers that buy capacity from them.
The framework also opens the way for direct-to-device (D2D) connectivity, meaning a normal mobile phone can connect straight to a satellite, using both satellite spectrum and regular mobile (terrestrial) spectrum.
The authorisation will cover the whole country for an initial period of up to 20 years, renewable for up to 20 more years.
TRAI had issued a consultation paper on this framework in April 2026 under Section 3(1)(b) of the Telecommunications Act, 2023, which deals with authorisation to set up and run telecom networks. TRAI's recommendations now go to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), which takes the final decision.
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, or TRAI, is the independent body that regulates telecom and broadcasting services in India. It sets or watches over the prices (tariffs) of phone, internet and cable TV services, makes rules on service quality, and protects the interests of customers. It also gives expert advice to the government on matters like how spectrum should be priced and what conditions a new kind of licence should have. TRAI is a statutory body, which means it was created by a law passed by Parliament, the TRAI Act, 1997.
The new satellite network framework is a TRAI recommendation, made after a public consultation, as the TRAI Act requires. It is advice to the government: DoT will now decide whether to accept it fully, change it or send it back to TRAI. If accepted, it will create a "wholesale" layer in satellite telecom, where network owners rent capacity to service providers instead of selling to users directly.
Telecommunications Act, 2023: From Licensing to Authorisation
The Telecommunications Act, 2023 is India's main law for telecom services such as mobile phones, internet and satellite communication. It replaced two very old laws, the Indian Telegraph Act of 1885 and the Indian Wireless Telegraphy Act of 1933. It decides who can run a telecom service or network, how spectrum is given out, and what powers the government has during emergencies.
TRAI's new Satellite Communication Network Provider Authorisation is a network authorisation under Section 3(1)(b), separate from a service authorisation. This split, possible only under the 2023 Act, is what lets a company own and run a satellite network without being allowed to sell services to customers.
Satellite Internet: How Low Earth Orbit Constellations Deliver Broadband
Satellite internet means getting internet from a satellite in space instead of from a cable or a nearby mobile tower. A small dish (or, with newer technology, a normal phone) talks to a satellite, which talks to a ground station connected to the main internet. Because the signal comes from space, it can reach villages, mountains, islands, ships and planes where laying cables is hard. New systems use large groups ("constellations") of satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), a few hundred to about 2,000 km above the Earth, which reduces delay compared with older satellites about 36,000 km away.
The SCNaaS model lets satellite network owners sell capacity to telecom companies, which can then offer satellite-backed services, including D2D, to their own customers. This could help mobile operators extend coverage to remote areas without building their own satellites.
- New category: Satellite Communication Network Provider Authorisation (recommended by TRAI)
- Model: Satellite Communication Network-as-a-Service (SCNaaS); providers cannot serve end users directly
- Area: whole of India; validity: up to 20 years, renewable for up to 20 more years
- Covers D2D connectivity using both satellite (MSS) and terrestrial mobile (IMT) spectrum
- Legal basis: Section 3(1)(b), Telecommunications Act, 2023 (network authorisation); consultation paper issued in April 2026
- TRAI established 20 February 1997; TDSAT created by the TRAI (Amendment) Act, 2000
- TRAI satellite spectrum recommendations, 9 May 2025: administrative allocation, 4% of AGR, 5 + 2 years
- WRC-27 (ITU) to take up D2D use of mobile spectrum