The Hindu Business Line : `Little impact on telecom'

The Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) operators, who are the primary users of satellite-based technology, said that capacity on the INSAT 4C was not expected to be used for broadband or telecom services.

Wing Commander, Mr S.K. Bhalla, of the VSAT Service Providers Association of India, said, "There will be no impact on telecom services. The satellite was supposed to be used for broadcasting services."

Bandwidth crunch

Some of the VSAT operators, however, said that the Government should review the policy to not allow operators to directly uplink to foreign satellites.

At present, Indian operators have to necessarily go through ISRO to get capacity on any satellite.

"Satellite bandwidth prices could come down by 30 per cent if the Government allows operators to directly take capacity from foreign satellites. The failure of INSAT 4C may create a crunch in satellite bandwidth for the next few years, which could increase the price of services," said a US-based VSAT operator.

VSAT industry has been demanding an open sky policy with over 15 different foreign satellites willing to offer capacity over Indian space.

VSATs are used extensively by telecom operators to provide long distance connectivity.

It is also used by corporates and institutions to connect their offices in remote locations. VSAT is also being used for long distance education and e-governance projects. Hughes Network, HCL Comnet and Bharti are some of the large VSAT operators in the country.

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