Events

EU Trade Commissioner Mandelson and Indian Trade Minister Kamal Nath open the 8th EU India Summit
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From 29-30 November, ESOA representatives participated in the 8th EU-India Business Summit and a series of high-level meetings arranged by the European Services Forum (ESF), of which ESOA is a member.

Involvement in the summit results from ESOA members' offensive interests in having access to the Indian market for satellite services, which is currently protected by a decreed preference for Indian satellite capacity in Ku Band (Direct to Home TV) and a monopoly on the sale of satellite capacity granted by the Department of Space to ISRO, the Indian Space Research Organisation. As such foreign satellite operators may not have direct access to sell their capacity to Indian customers who therefore suffer from a lack of competition in terms of prices and services offered. Although a certain percentage of Indian satcoms may well be supplied by non-Indian satellite operators, the extent of use of foreign capacity and the choice of operator remain the decision of ISRO. The affect of the Indian policy towards foreign satellite operators not only affects the overall price and choice of services nationally but also India's ability to meet ever-growing demand for telecoms & TV services, as well as its ability to enhance development: allowing foreign satellite operators into the country could result in increased tele-education & tele-medicine services which are ideally suited to the size and rural population of India. Using satellite technology in these fields for countries with big populations and large land masses provides governments with a cost-effective solution that can be implemented without the need for rolling out expensive terrestrial infrastructure.

Summit Overview

• The ESOA Chairman participated in the CEO roundtable alongside other European & Indian CEOs and alongside EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson and Indian Minister for Commerce Kamal Nath.
• Despite the gloomy picture painted by Minister Nath of the negotiations and their progress, the message given at the end of the official India-EU political summit by Indian PM Singh, Portuguese PM Socrates and EC President Barroso was positive with the two blocks reaffirming their willingness to finalise the FTA negotiations by end 2008, with India noting its aim to further reform.
• Further meetings were held with CII (Confederation of Indian Industry), FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry), Ignacio Garcia Bercero chief EU negotiator on FTA with India, MP Dinesh Trivedi, GK Pillai - Secretary Ministry of Commerce, Nripendra Misra, Chairman of TRAI, and various other government officials who are not relevant to our sector.
• The Chairman and ESOA SG made the case for market access into India noting in particular the contribution satellite services can make to sustainable development and giving the example of Telecoms Sans Frontier (TSF) having been prohibited from letting families called their loved ones at the time of the Gujarat earthquake despite the fact that India is signatory to the Tampere convention.

Key Points to Note concerning India's policy towards foreign satellite services:

• Demand for satellite capacity generally exceeds supply in India, Indian satellites are full
• Between 40-60% of satcoms in India are delivered by foreign satellite operators selected by ISRO, NOT by customers
• Open Skies for satellite services in India could result in a further domestic boom in telecoms similar to what was seen in the aviation field some years ago
• India often raises a 'security' concern to justify its position: other countries who have raised the same concern in the past have engaged in dialogue with satellite operators and seen that these concerns can be addressed with technological solutions
• India denied Telecoms Sans Frontier (TSF) - an NGO that delivers immediate emergency communications all over the world at times of disaster - the possibility to allow people affected during the Gujarat earthquake to call their loved ones to tell them they were alive, despite the fact that India is signatory to the Tampere Convention under international law.
• India stands to benefit hugely from opening its skies to foreign satellite operators, not only in terms of more competition, choice and reduced prices commercially but also in terms of development by granting access to operators who may bring tele-education & tele-medecine and other connectivity to those parts of the population left out today because of India's digital divide.