Trai issues supplementary paper on data communication services involving airlines

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

data communication services provided by entities other than the Airports Authority of India (AAI) as issues around service license and methodology of spectrum allocation such as auction etc remained untouched in the previous process. On December 12 last year, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) had issued a consultation paper on the matter, asking for suggestions regarding the mechanism of providing spectrum to IT and communication vendors to the Indian aviation industry – Société Internationale de Telecommunications Aeronautiques, (SITA) and Bird Consultancy Services (BCS).

Replying to the paper, all three private mobile operators had said that such spectrum should be brought under the licensing regime. While Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea wanted the allocation to be done through an auction, Bharti Airtel proposed continuation of the current mechanism of assignment through an administrative basis – or on payment of a fee.

However, Trai has observed that specific inputs have not been received on some of the aspects related to service license for provision of data communication services between aircraft and ground stations, methodology for spectrum assignment, and spectrum charging mechanism. The authority feels that inputs on these issues will be necessary for a comprehensive analysis of the matter and formulating the recommendations.

“Accordingly, the Authority has decided to issue this supplementary consultation paper to seek inputs from stakeholders on such aspects,” the regulator said in a statement Thursday. In the supplementary consultation paper, Trai wants to know if the data communication services between aircraft and ground stations provided by organizations other than AAI are brought under service