India’s Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has reportedly issued a list of additional security requirements that GMPCS licence holders offering satellite broadband services will have to fulfil.
According to the Economic Times, the DoT created the updated security conditions in response to the national security environment – particularly India’s ongoing tensions with China and Pakistan – as well as the evolution of new technologies.
The DoT also said it created the additional requirements after holding discussions with all four companies affected – namely, Eutelsat Oneweb and Jio-SES JV Orbit Connect India (both of which have already acquires GMPCS licences), as well as Starlink and Amazon Kuiper (both of which have applied for licences), the report said.
Among other things, new security requirements for GMPCS licence holders include ensuring that data centres and PoPs are physically located in India, and that Indian telecoms data is not copied and decrypted outside the country.
Licence holders must also provide domain name system (DNS) resolution within India to prevent users from accessing websites blocked by the government. All data must pass through an Indian gateway, with no data transmitted between satellites.
Meanwhile, terminals with mobile capability must report their location once per minute or every time they move more than 2.6 km, whichever is shorter, the report said. Operators must ensure a 50-km special monitoring zone within the international border, and be be able to shut off services when the terminal enters a “barred area”, the report added.
The new rules also require GMPCS players to initiate a phased local manufacturing program to ensure that at least 20% of their ground segment includes indigenous gear within five years after starting service in India, the report said.
