‘India likely to witness fastest satcom rollout’

New Delhi: India appears poised to see the fastest rollout of the satcom network, with its market expected to surge nearly tenfold to $20 billion by 2028, Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said on Tuesday.

Scindia noted regulator TRAI has given its views on norms for satcom spectrum, and that it is now for the government to vet the recommendations and push forward the policy. “And as I have mentioned to you we are very eager in pushing forward this policy as soon as possible, so that now they (TRAI) are done with their task, the onus is on us to take it forward,” he said.

He emphasised that satellite technology is complementary to the current bouquet of terrestrial telecom services. TRAI has come out with its regulations for administrative assignment of satcom spectrum and multiple players have availed of the licence, he said addressing the World Telecommunications and Information Society Day event organised by TRAI.

“I am very confident that this rollout of satellite network as well, will probably be the fastest in the world in the years to come, growing from current $2.3 billion market to almost a $20 billion market by 2028, so we are talking about a ten multiple over the next three years...these are growth rates you would probably not see anywhere else in world,” Scindia said. Scindia further said that once the permission to operators is given, they will reach far and wide.

“The timeline has to be worked out by every single company individually but my assessment is that as a market, we will grow very, very fast,” he said.

The minister, however, declined to comment to the question of whether the government would extend support to crisis-ridden Vodafone Idea, after the Supreme Court on Monday dismissed plea on waiver of AGR dues.

Just weeks ago, the troubled telco had sent an SOS to the telecom department stating that without the government’s timely support on adjusted gross revenue or AGR, it will not be able to operate beyond FY26 as the bank funding discussions will not move forward.

The embattled telco shot off a letter to the telecom department on April 17, 2025, making a strong case for a lifeline, saying “no support will lead to a point of no return”.

“Without GoI’s (Government of India) timely support on AGR, VIL will not be able to operate beyond FY26 as the bank funding discussions will not move forward,” VIL CEO Akshaya Moondra wrote in a letter to the DoT secretary.