Tata group company Nelco applies for licence to offer satellite broadband services

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Tata group company Nelco has applied for a global mobile personal communication by satellite licence with an eye on launching broadband-from-space services, becoming the fourth company in the country to do so, The Economic Times reported.

Up until now, the government has given licences to OneWeb which is backed by Bharti Group, and Reliance Jio Infocomm’s satellite arm even as SpaceX by Elon Musk awaits nod.

PJ Nath, managing director of Nelco, told ET: “Nelco has applied for a GMPCS licence, which will enable it to offer newer services in the future."

The MD further stated that Nelco even conducted a demonstration of high-speed broadband connectivity with the help of Canadian organisation Telesat’s low earth orbit (LEO) satellite.

Telecom department officials also mentioned that acquiring a licence doesn’t automatically mean the commencement of services right away. Licence aside, there is also a requirement for approval of the department of space and after that the spectrum must be granted for offering services. The companies are also required to establish in-country earth stations.

India’s nascent broadband-from-space services segment is likely to be worth $13 billion by the year 2025, slowly rising at 6% per year, as mentioned by a report by Indian Space Association.