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Are you happy with Airtel<\/a>’s position after years of industry<\/a> turmoil?<\/strong>
After annihilation of the sector, we are now in a better territory with the government package that came through. I would say certainly we are on the road to recovery.
Can we expect more Google like deals for Airtel?<\/strong>
We work very deeply with everybody. Google, Facebook, Apple… we have been exclusive distributors for them for a long time, and also Microsoft.
Any more equity investments in the pipeline?<\/strong>
There's nothing that is going on at the moment.
Has the competitive intensity settled down now in the industry?<\/strong>
The market is very competitive. That we have lived for 25 years. We are a product of competition. But what is required was a regulatory healing touch which is coming through.
Do you think Vodafone Idea<\/a> is out of the woods now?<\/strong>
It is not out of the woods yet…there is a lot of work that needs to be done. In my mind, the company needs serious investments. So, I wouldn't say they are out of the woods yet. But I think that the government's package and some stake they would like to bring into VIL, will bring some stability.
How do you look at competition in the satcom industry with Reliance Jio<\/a> getting into it with the JV with SES?<\/strong>
Reliance is doing distribution. We are in production and distribution. Our distribution will be through the Hughes joint venture. India is a large country. OneWeb is a global network. India is a small portion of that in terms of bandwidth. We will have no problems selling the Indian bandwidth, which is very small.
Do you think satcom is going to disrupt the telecom industry dynamics? What is the DoT (Department of Telecommunications) and DoS (Department of Space) decide to auction the spectrum for satcom?<\/strong>
First, there is zero chance of disruption. Satcom is only for areas where there is no mobile network. Deserts, jungles, Himalayas, water, aviation…so we are not competing with GSM operators… I have my own GSM operator.
On the auctions, I keep on hearing about this. What will be auctioned? The 50 km area of spectrum will be auctioned? I just need two zones of 50 kilometres… one is north and one is south… So what's the demand for auction? This is a shared spectrum. Everybody will use the same spectrum. Every satellite operator, whether it's JIO-SES, or Inmarsat, or Viacom or Oneweb or Starlink. Everybody's using that spectrum. How do you even auction it to one at the exclusion of others? And if you take 50 kilometres and you say that I will take it, you take it I'll go somewhere else, to the next 50 kilometres in the country.
Nowhere in the world does satellite spectrum ever be auctioned. Why would India want to exclude the satellite option in the country? If there is be an auction, obviously no satellite operator will participate. So, what's the point?