Akash Ambani led Reliance Jio has completely transformed the Indian telecom industry in the past few years but its future plans may take a massive hit due to the new bill proposed in the parliament. Mukesh Ambani and his son Akash Ambani are dominating the Indian internet market through Reliance Jio and the richest man in India is gearing up to launch satellite broadband service like Elon Musk’s Starlink. The Ambani-owned satellite-based giga fiber service called JioSpaceFiber aims to provide high speed broadband services to previously inaccessible geographies within the country. As per a report by Reuters, Reliance Jio is hoping for a spectrum auction for upcoming service, however India has proposed a licensing approach for the same.
The proposal in the parliament included in a new draft bill that seeks to replace the 138-year old Indian Telegraph Act that currently governs the Indian telecommunications sector. The new bill is a win for Elon Musk’s starlink and Amazon's Project Kuiper as other countries may have followed India’s auction pattern resulting in more costs and investments for foreign companies.
As per Reuters, Reliance Jio has told the government that an auction is the right approach. “Foreign satellite service providers could offer voice and data services and compete with traditional telecom players, and so there must be an auction to achieve a level playing field, Reliance had argued.” the report stated.
Jio is partnering with SES to access the world’s latest in medium earth orbit (MEO) satellite technology, the only MEO constellation capable of delivering truly unique Gigabit, fiber-like services from space.
