Bharti Airtel has asked Indian regulators to subject satellite communication (satcom) operators to the same spectrum rules that govern mobile network operators whenever satcom players want to use airwaves already allocated to mobile services, a position the operator restated at India Mobile Congress (IMC) 2026.

The demand, framed in a session at India's flagship annual telecom industry event, lands in the middle of an unresolved policy fight over how satellite broadband operators should gain access to Indian spectrum.

What is Airtel asking for?

Airtel's leadership argued at IMC 2026 that satcom providers planning to operate in frequency bands currently assigned to mobile operators should meet the same regulatory conditions mobile operators do — a call best understood as a push for parity between auction-based mobile spectrum allocation and the administrative framework that typically governs satellite airwaves globally.

The underlying economic concern is straightforward. Indian mobile operators have acquired spectrum through auctions held since 2010, paying tens of billions of dollars across multiple bands and renewal rounds. If satellite players access the same frequencies through a lighter administrative process, the cost differential — and the head-start it gives to satcom — would undercut the billions already invested in terrestrial networks.

Why is the position controversial?

Airtel is itself a satcom licensee, holding authorisation through the Bharti Group's partnership with OneWeb for low-earth-orbit broadband services. That dual role complicates any reading of the parity push as straightforwardly pro-competitive. The argument cuts both ways: incumbents frame it as protecting fair play, while satellite operators and parts of the policy community see it as a defensive move by telcos guarding ground-tower revenue.

Satcom advocates counter that satellite and terrestrial mobile are structurally different businesses. They cite different capital intensity, different deployment models, and a different revenue-per-MHz profile. Importing mobile auction rules into satcom would, in their view, slow investment in orbit-based connectivity that the Indian government has publicly identified as essential for rural and remote coverage.

How did the Indian satcom debate get here?

India's satellite broadband market remains under construction. Reliance Jio holds a satcom licence through its partnership with Luxembourg-based SES; Bharti Airtel holds the OneWeb authorisation; and SpaceX's Starlink remains in active commercial-entry discussions with the Department of Telecommunications (DoT). The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has yet to finalise recommendations on spectrum allocation for fixed and mobile satellite services.

At the centre of the debate is whether spectrum shared — or contested — between satellite and terrestrial mobile services should be auctioned or assigned administratively. Mobile operators, including Airtel and Reliance Jio, have consistently backed auctions. Satcom players and several global precedents argue for administrative pricing.

IMC 2025 produced similar calls from incumbent telcos that preceded a fresh consultation paper from the DoT. IMC 2026's reiteration suggests that consultation did not resolve the underlying disagreement and that operators expect movement before the next spectrum cycle.

What happens next?

Indian regulators will need to decide, ahead of the next major spectrum allocation round, whether satellite and mobile players operating in overlapping bands should compete for the same frequencies under one rulebook or remain on parallel tracks. The verdict will shape entry terms for Starlink and Jio Satellite, both with pending commercial rollouts in India, and will set the pricing template for any future auction that includes satellite capacity.

For Airtel, the IMC 2026 message is clear: the company will keep pressing the DoT and TRAI for parity. For the regulator, the harder task of reconciling two structurally different industries inside a single spectrum framework continues.