Even as the broadcast and telecom regulator TRAI is in the process of overhauling its infotech system to further assist stakeholders, its chief Anil K. Lahoti did not outline any timeline for submitting recommendations on satellite spectrum that would pave the way for high-speed broadband via satellites.

In an interview to news agency PTI, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) chairman Anil K. Lahoti declined to comment on the specifics or timeline for release of the satcom spectrum recommendation except to say “all comments are being examined on their merits and we will take a balanced view”.

On TRAI’s list of priorities for 2025 are recommendations on satellite communications spectrum — arguably one of the most keenly watched events in a high-stakes game involving telcos like Jio and Airtel on one side, and Elon Musk’s Starlink on the other.

While Indian telcos like Jio and Airtel are rooting for auctioning of satcom spectrum, Elon Musk’s Starlink, which is yet to get initial approvals for a satellite broadband service from the Indian government, has openly backed administrative allocation of such spectrum.

According to the PTI report, TRAI‘s 2025 to-do list also includes framing recommendations for network authorisation, new authorisation framework for broadcasting and revamp of national numbering plan for fixed line, while work will continue on combating and curbing spam calls and pesky messages.

The regulator is also all set to initiate a massive rehaul of its IT system, a move, it expects, would lead to rationalisation and reduction in multiple instances of filings by telecom companies and other industry stakeholders.

Deloitte, which has been roped in as a consultant, is on the verge of submitting its report on revamp of its IT systems.

The regulator will thereafter appoint an agency for the revamp and the entire exercise will be prioritised and completed this year, Lahoti said.

Lahoti said the regulator will firm up its recommendations on millimetre wave spectrum band (auction of spectrum in 37-37.5 GHz, 37.5-40 GHz and 42.5-43.5 GHz bands) in about a month’s time and also bring out a consultation paper on backhaul spectrum by March this year.

“Another thing which we will be working on is digital consent acquisition. Although the provision for this exists in the regulation (TCCCPR), the practical constraint has been the legacy consents… because there are volumes of consent which have been acquired on paper or reside in the past systems of principal entities, the challenges has been about how to take those consents onboard to the DLT (distributed ledger technology), because you cannot completely discard them,” Lahoti said in the interview to PTI.

TRAI will start, this month, a pilot to onboard paper-based and past permissions given by customers for receiving commercial communications onto its digital distributed ledger technology platform, a process that in the long-run would include scrubbing and verifying their current validity and offering opt-outs to those keen on it.