Amazon has applied to the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe) for permission to offer broadband-from-space services in India. This would make the US e-commerce company the most recent entrant in India's nascent but rapidly growing satellite communications (satcom) market. In India, Amazon would compete against Elon Musk's Starlink, Bharti-backed Oneweb, and Reliance Industries' Jio Satellite, which issued a new space policy earlier this year aimed at spurring private investment in the sector.
The Jeff Bezos-led company is also expected to apply for a global mobile personal communication by satellite services (GMPCS) licence from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT). While Oneweb and Jio Satellite have received GMPCS licences, Starlink's application is expected to be accepted this week.
According to India's Space Policy 2023, private low-earth orbit (LEO) and medium-earth orbit (MEO) satellite constellation operators are now permitted to launch fast broadband services from space in the country.
The new policy allows foreign entities to establish infrastructure and provide satellite services. These businesses, however, must seek IN-SPACe approval. The space policy has empowered IN-SPACe, an autonomous central regulatory body, to serve as the sole single-window agency for government and private sector space activities.
Amazon has been in discussions with the Indian government about the satellite communications sector. It participated in Trai's consultation process to finalise the satellite spectrum allocation methodology.
According to Amazon's website, the company plans to offer a variety of broadband-from-space services to customers with broadband speeds ranging from 100 Mbps to 1 Gbps. The new service is set to launch by the end of next year.