US-based satellite services company, Iridium has approached the Ministry of Communications and IT, requesting to bid in a project being undertaken by Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) for setting up a satellite gateway in India.

Iridium is of the view that selecting a partner for this project without a transparent and fair process could result in higher costs and inferior services. The move comes in light of the recent partnership between UK-based International Mobile Satellite Organisation (INMARSAT) with BSNL for provision of satellite broadband services.

The domestic satellite gateway project was proposed after security agencies made it mandatory for satellite companies to have a local earth station if they wanted to offer services in the country. The key security concern was that few satellite phones used by paramilitary forces were being supplied by foreign operators.  Following this, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) in May 2014, proposed to grant funds to BSNL to build a satellite gateway in the country. It also recommended to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to consider BSNL’s request for waiver of entry fee, processing fee and performance bank guarantee for such authorisation.