However, going forward, the Q and V bands would assume importance for next-gen satellite services and gateway communications. There is no separate licence now for gateway operations alone. More so since almost 75% of rural India does not have access to broadband as many locations are without cellular or fibre connectivity. Satellite broadband rates in India are nearly 30 times that of 4G mobile broadband. Its costs $15-20 per GB, compared with $0.68 for mobile data.

Source: Economic Times June 07, 2021 02:42 UTC