Dear Patrons,

SIA-INDIA WISHES YOU A VERY HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS DEEPAWALI.
MAY THE NEW SEASON BRING GOOD HEALTH AND PROSPERITY FOR ALL.

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and TRAI are exploring ways to optimise the country's spectrum resources as several airwave bands critical to satellite multicast services, satellite broadband and 5G mobile broadband. The industry is looking with keen anticipation towards the spectrum allocation and SIA-India is proactively taking a lead in the matter with relevant govt authorities.

Frequencies in the `C' and `Ka' bands are critical for both high throughput satellites and the draft Spacecom policy must align satellite spectrum identification and its allocation with the ITU identified radio frequency spectrum use for global harmonization of the spectrum for space activities. This will protect existing satellite investments from detrimental radio frequency interference.

Recently, the Dept of Space [DoS] initiated a short stakeholder's consultation on the revised SpaceCom Policy 2021. In response SIA-India has made a written submission to the DoS after deliberating upon key suggestions and inputs from the members, highlighting critical areas which have ambiguity or have remained unaddressed in the Draft Policy. The association also participated in the virtual consultation on 28th October 2021.

SIA-India has joined Telecom Equipment & Service Export Promotion Council (TEPC) as an Associate member. TEPC has been set up by the Government of India to promote and develop export of telecom equipment and services from India. TEPC as a Council plays a critical role in furtherance of Telecom export from India and assists its member companies in easy facilitation of their respective exports. As a proactive member of the council, SIA-India looks forward to leveraging on its position to cater to the Satcom Manufacturers Ecosystem. Manufacturing sector in the Space ecosystem needs funding/investments from government and private sector. A strong forward looking sector will attract FDI. Effective measures are required to boost indigenous manufacturing and incentivize the manufacturing sectors.

At the A.B.I.S. Knowledge Summit on 22nd Oct 2021, a panel discussion on "Satellite in the Video Distribution Value Chain" was powered by SIA-India. The SIA-India session focused on satellites' role in enhancing the reach of the video distribution platform making a viable business case through transformations within the industry. The session was moderated by Mr. Rajeev Gambhir, Sr. Director, Technology & Policy, SIA-India. Other panellist were Mr. John Huddle, Director-Marketing Development, Asia, SES, Mr. Rajdeepsinh Gohil, Senior Sales Director, ASIASAT, Mr. Gaurav Kharod, Managing Sales Director, Intelsat, Mr. Vynsley Fernandes, MD & CEO, NEXTDIGITAL and Mr. Anil Malhotra, CEO-Siti Networks.

• Satellites set to make Video Distribution more economically viable. To truly digitize India, reach and reliability is a must and to achieve that the Country needs to have a strong satellite delivery system.
• Satellite is a very powerful medium of delivery, with both broadcast and multicast systems delivering the information using a single transmit operation. This saves network capacity and reducs serving costs.
• With satellite playing a higher value proposition, the situation can be improved with MSOs sharing the infrastructure with the satellite operators.
• Currently majority of OTT traffic is from metros. Satellite will play a vital role in attracting traffic from outside of Metros. Marrying traditional tv with OTT TV is the best solution going forward.