Recently, telecom companies have opposed satellite companies’ demand for separate earth station licenses.
- Telecom companies have opposed the demand of satellite companies to separate the license of satellite earth stations from the service license.
- Earth stations are a major essential telecommunications center on land. It connects satellite communication networks in space to terrestrial networks on Earth.
- Presently, the service providers have license to set up earth stations under the Unified Licensing Framework.
- In opposition to this, satellite companies (particularly those seeking to provide high-speed Internet) are demanding a separate licensing regime for satellite earth stations.
About satellite based connectivity:
It operates by sending and receiving broadband signals to a satellite in space. It does not use an underground copper/fiber network. Using geostationary, medium and low earth orbit satellites, satellite-based low-bit-rate connectivity is possible.
Models of satellite based connectivity include:
Hybrid (LPWAN + Satellite) or Indirect model: In this, each sensor and speed booster in the network can communicate with the satellite through an intermediate sync node i.e. Low Power Wide-Area Network (LPWAN) gateway.
Direct to Satellite Model: In this the instruments can communicate directly with the satellite. It does not require any intermediate ground gateway for communication.
Benefits: Ease of installation and wider coverage, better bandwidth capabilities, boosting Internet coverage in rural areas, enabling Internet of Things (IoT), etc.
Source – The Hindu
