Turf wars with ISRO stall connectivity: DoT official

Flags problem of “domains” between the organisations

March 06, 2018 10:14 pm | Updated 10:57 pm IST - Mumbai

Representational image.

Representational image.

India builds the cheapest satellites but has the most expensive bandwidth, a government official said on Tuesday, blaming turf wars between the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Department of Telecom (DoT) for delays in taking connectivity to far-flung areas.

DoT’s special secretary N. Sivasailam also flagged issues of costs and said the ISRO should do more in order to keep the charges on par with global experience.

Mr. Sivasailam said more transponders were required on satellites.

According to him, there is a “problem of domains” between the DoT and the ISRO that has impacted the roll-out of connectivity in far-flung areas for 20 years.

“The problem is of domains. We (DoT) don’t want to leave our domain. ISRO doesn’t want to leave its domain. It is a domain-related problem...I do not see people coming together and negotiating this aspect out,” he said.

‘It’s hurting business’

Admitting that there is “politics” which “makes things difficult”, Mr. Sivasailam pitched for both the agencies getting over the problems for the benefit of all.

“It is time it stopped because it is hurting business development and ultimately people are not getting (benefited),” he said, speaking at the annual FICCI Frames.

On the critical issue of costs, he said it will cost around ₹150 to serve one user with the current cost structure in the country whereas in the U.S., it costs $1 or ₹65.

“If the U.S. is getting it for USD 1 for the same bandwidth for the life of the satellite, I should be getting it at the same rate. There is no reason why it should not happen in India. That is my refrain,” he said.

Conceding that ISRO helps take satellite connectivity to 5,240 far-flung locations in the country, including 4,300 in the Northeast, Mr. Sivasailam said the cost of the satellite, bandwidth and spectrum makes “operations unviable.”

“If you have the volume of business, we should be able to provide at the rates internationally available and that is a matter of some concern for us. We have been working on it but not necessarily successful on this,” he said.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.