The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has sought more clarity from Jeff Bezos-led Amazon on its satcom license application on critical issues like setting up of satellite gateways, data storage, and transfer amongst others, officials aware of the details said, a report in the Economic Times stated.

The government is analyzing Amazon-owned Project Kuiper’s application for a global mobile personal communication by satellite services (GMPCS) permit.

The licence will allow Amazon to offer broadband, voice, and messaging services from space to individuals as well as enterprise customers, the ET report elaborated.

“We have sought details from Amazon on some points like satellite gateways and data. This is part of a process as we analyse the application,” ET quoted an unnamed official as saying.

Indianbroadcastingworld.com could not independently verify the developments reported by ET.

Meanwhile, another media report on Friday indicated that the Indian government is poised to give a licence to Elon Musk owned SpaceX to offer its broadband-via-satellite services in India under the Starlink brandname — a service similar to what Amazon’s Kuiper project is seeking to do.

While Reliance Jio-SES broadband-through-satellite project was recently cleared by the government, earlier the UK-based OneWeb, in which India’s Bharti Airtel has an equity stake, had obtained a licence. This segment of satcom is set to witness some intense competition.

Airtel Expands 5G coverage in Bengal: Leading telecom service provider Bharti Airtel on Thursday said it has expanded its 5G network to all 23 districts of West Bengal, which will bring the high-speed technology to its 1.6 million customers, a PTI report from Kolkata stated.

This marks a significant milestone for Airtel as the company has achieved 5G coverage across all districts and Union Territories in the country within a year of the launch of the service.

Airtel boasts of about 22.5 million customer base in Kolkata and West Bengal circles out of which 1.6 million customers are already on 5G. The adoption of the 5G network is happening very fast, its officials said.

“We were the first telecom operator to deploy high-speed 5G technology in West Bengal and we are committed to connecting lives across the state,” Airtel CEO (West Bengal) Ayan Sarkar said.

The company said it has successfully demonstrated the transformative power of 5G through various use cases like the country’s first private 5G network at Bosch’s Bengaluru facility and the conversion of Mahindra & Mahindra’s Chakan manufacturing unit into India’s first 5G-enabled auto manufacturing facility.