PJ Nath, Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at Nelco Ltd, a Tata-owned company, said that the government should provide access to any frequency to operate for the satellite communications provider. It is worth noting that earlier this morning, the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, launched the Indian Space Association (ISpA). In light of the same, Nath shared a few things with the Prime Minister. Nath acknowledged the growth that the space industry has witnessed in the last five to six years. The Nelco CEO mentioned how the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), and the Ministry of Electronics and Technology (MeitY) had supported the industry.
Nath Requests Government to Give Access to Global Customers
PJ Nath made a few requests from the government during the event. Firstly, Nath requested to introduce the spacecom policy as early as possible. On top of this, he requested the implementation of the policy and licenses in no time. Nath said that land mobility for satellite communications is to be allowed. Further, the Nelco CEO said that the government should allow the satcom providers access to any frequency they want for providing services. He also mentioned that the licenses should be provided with certain flexibility so that ease of doing business increases. Lastly, Nath mentioned that the Indian satcom providers should be given access to global customers and also be allowed to import technology from around the world. While Nath has pure intentions behind asking for permission to import technologies, the Indian government would very much like to avoid that as much as possible. This is because of the Aatmanirbhar Bharat mission of the Modi government. But it will be crucial for the sector to be allowed to import the equipment and technology from outside India for a low cost so that it can be possible for the companies to roll out services at affordable costs.
