Sunil Mittal and Ambani advocated for spectrum purchases by satellite companies

Telecom mogul Sunil Bharti Mittal has joined forces with rival Mukesh Ambani to advocate for satellite companies to pay licence fees and purchase airwaves for their telecom services, similar to legacy operators. This appeal was made during the India Mobile Conference, where Mittal emphasised the importance of creating a level playing field in the telecom sector.

Mittal, who leads Bharti Airtel, India’s second-largest telecom firm, stated that established telecom companies are well-positioned to extend satellite services to remote areas. "Those satellite companies who have ambitions to come into urban areas, serving retail customers, just need to pay the telecom licences like everyone else," he remarked, highlighting that these companies should be held to the same regulatory standards.

He further insisted that satellite firms should purchase spectrum and comply with licensing conditions just as traditional telecom companies do. "They also need to secure the networks of the telecom companies," he added, speaking in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi .

This call for equal treatment comes on the heels of a letter from Ambani's Reliance Jio to Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, opposing the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) recommendation to allocate satellite broadband spectrum without an auction.

While companies like Elon Musk's Starlink and Amazon 's Project Kuiper support an administrative allocation approach, Mittal and Ambani stance highlights a growing concern among legacy telecom operators about fair competition in the rapidly evolving telecom landscape.