Satcom airwaves need to be allotted and not auctioned: Viasat executive

New Delhi: The entire global satellite spectrum resource is shared among satellite communication operators with no one holding exclusive rights, which is why satcom airwaves need to be allotted and not auctioned, a top executive at global communications player Viasat said.

“Spectrum allocation via auction cannot be applied to satellite firms simply because this very simple economic principle does not fit space-based infrastructure. Thousands of satellites all share the same spectrum and there are only a few satellite bands in comparison to the number of mobile bands,” Cristian Gomez, senior director, government & regulatory affairs (Asia Pacific) at Viasat, told ET.