(The Economic Times via NewsEdge) The government of India is set to take a fresh look at the long-pending demand for an "Open Sky" policy by VSAT operators, following the Indian Space Research Organization's failure with its geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle.
The "Open Sky" policy, if implemented, will enable Indian operators to directly negotiate and lease satellite bandwidth from foreign satellite operators. Currently, VSAT players cannot directly lease transponder space on foreign satellites, but can only do so through the Department of Space, which hires transponder space from abroad and sells it to them.
The country has a bandwidth capacity crunch on account of the artificial demand, as VSAT operators cannot enter into direct agreements with foreign satellites. The GSLV failure will further worsen the equation between demand and supply.
Currently, there are more than 15 international satellites with spare capacity looking over India.
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