If Devas was a scam, why is Starlink kosher?

The greatest difference between the Antrix-Devas deal and the Starlink deal is the political context. The then UPA government was in a pullback mode in the face of public criticism. The Narendra Modi government faces no such challenges

The similarities between the Antrix-Devas deal and the Starlink deal with Jio and Airtel are remarkable enough to ask why one was dubbed a scam while everyone seems gung-ho about Starlink.

The rationale for the Devas deal was also the provision of satellite-based Internet in under-served areas. In both cases, space segment spectrum was sought through administrative allocation, rather than through an auction.

On the face of it, administrative allocation of space segment spectrum was legal in 2005 when the Antrix-Devas deal was signed as it is now.

Guidelines on spectrum sharing approved by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 12, 2015 note, “In India spectrum assignment, earlier by and large through administrative allocation procedure and from 2010 onwards through auction process, is made for a period of 20 years.”

The Telecom Act of 2023 made a special provision for administrative allocation of spectrum in 19 specific cases, including space segment spectrum.

Devas (Digitally Enhanced Video and Audio Services) was to be the service provider for multimedia services through two satellites leased from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for 12 years. Devas was to develop the platform for delivering Internet services via satellite and its joint-venture partner Antrix, a commercial arm of ISRO, would provide the space segment (the space-band spectrum needed) services.

Compared to Devas’ proposal of two ISRO satellites in geosynchronous orbits (approximately 36,000 km above Earth's equator), Starlink has nearly 7,000 low-orbit satellites (120-2000 km from Earth) in space. Devas did not have the technology for Internet distribution, but ISRO also did not have the promised satellites in orbit. They were launched years later.

Starlink has demonstrated both space and distribution technologies. However, to operate in India, it needs part of the State-owned space segment spectrum just as Devas did.

Perhaps it was the timing of the Antrix-Devas project rather than its legal flaws that contributed to its undoing. The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government of Manmohan Singh was reeling under so-called 2G scam, which the Comptroller and Auditor General of India alleged created presumptive losses of Rs 1,76,000 crore.

Sections of the media went to town criticising the Antrix-Devas deal with headlines such as ‘Another spectrum sold on the quiet’; ‘Devas gets preferential allocation of ISRO's spectrum’, and ‘CAG goes after another spectrum deal. Preliminary estimates point to loss of more than Rs. 2,00,000 crore; Department of Space, ISRO under scanner’.

One newspaper even suggested, “The 2005 agreement should be annulled and the ISRO quota should be auctioned.”

The UPA government probably chose to retreat from the deal for fear of further damage to its reputation after the public outcry about 2G. ISRO and the Department of Space went into damage control mode and tried to find ways to wriggle out of the deal, including the setting of the B N Suresh Committee for a comprehensive review of the deal. Later, ‘fraud’ in the formation of companies involved in the deal, collusion with ISRO, and lack of proven technology were alleged to dissolve the joint venture.

While this washed well within India, Devas and its investors challenged the allegations in international forums. They won separate compensation awards in international tribunals, including $1.2 billion awarded by an International Chamber of Commerce tribunal on September 14, 2015. The Supreme Court of India has, however, kept the $1.2 billion award in abeyance.

Concerns about the issues of strategic needs were raised at the time of the spectrum allocation to Antrix-Devas.  Various government departments set up committees to see how the administrative allocation of a portion of the S-band spectrum (one of the many frequencies in the space segment) might impact strategic requirements.

In April 2010, the Joint Director for Joint Communications Electronics Staff for the Head Quarter Integrated Defence Staff and the Ministry of Defence had written to ISRO specifying the satellite bandwidth requirements of the Army, Navy and Air Force up to 2022.

It requested, satellite bandwidth requirements on the S-Band, C-B and, Ku-Band, Ka-Band and UHF or Ultra High Frequency (various frequency ranges that constitute the Space-band spectrum).

The Antrix-Devas issue seemed too hot to handle and it was tossed from one department to another with each constituting a committee to see how the administrative allocation of a portion of the S-band spectrum might impact strategic requirements.

While the Suresh committee made no mention of any military requirements on the S-Band spectrum allocation, it was claimed that new security requirements had arisen for the S-band spectrum for the paramilitary forces (BSF, CISF, RPF, and CRPF), after the Antrix-Devas deal had been signed. Legal advice to the government was to invoke force majeure to annul the deal.

Although in the case of Starlink, the military and security requirements of the space band spectrum have not yet been raised, government sources have said that Starlink is seeking Ku band (around 14 GHz) and Ka band (27.1 to 31 GHz) on the space band spectrum.

Both are used by the Indian military — thus, for example, Indian military satellites like GSat7 series use Ku, UHF, and C-band frequencies while a civilian satellite like GSat11 has both Ku and Ka-band transponders. The Indian security forces also use Ka-band spectrum frequencies for high-speed satellite Internet, military communications, and high-resolution satellite imagery, among other applications. Yet there is no discussion of strategic concerns in the discussion of allocating the Ku and Ka-Band spectrum to Starlink.

This could lead to questions about whether the Starlink deal is being judged by a different standard than the infructuous Antrix-Devas deal.

Both the Indian telecom companies that have now signed partnership arrangements with Starlink, were till recently, preparing for their own joint ventures with European companies to bid for space segment spectrum. They also wanted administrative allocation of spectrum but were simultaneously trying to block similar allocation for Starlink.

Curiously even before administrative allocation of space band spectrum has been made for the Starlink venture, official sources have told the media that Starlink may be charged a spectrum usage charge of 3% on their adjusted gross revenue from India. This could be in anticipation of potential criticism of financial losses due to administrative allotment of spectrum as were made in the Antrix-Devas deal.

Perhaps the greatest difference between the Antrix-Devas and the Starlink deal is the political context. The then UPA government was in a pullback mode in the face of public criticism, having burnt its fingers with 2G spectrum allotment. The current regime faces no such challenges. Nor is the media raising questions of accountability.

Bharat Bhushan is a New Delhi-based journalist.

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.