New Delhi: The government has put no bar on satellite phone services segment and any entity can start operations in the country, according to telecom minister Manoj Sinha. The department of telecom (DoT) has provision for satellite phone service under unified licence called ‘Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite (GMPCS) Service’. Till date, no private satellite phone service provider has applied for the permit because of regulatory requirement and absence of subscriber base for the service. BSNL has set up gateway for satellite phone service in partnership with INMARSAT at a cost of around Rs83 crore. A satellite phone handset for INMARSAT services costs around Rs40,000-Rs70,000 a unit.

Source: Mint July 16, 2017 12:11 UTC