Representative image The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has granted Eutelsat OneWeb and Jio-SES joint venture Orbit Connect India a six-month extension, until November, to continue using provisional spectrum. This gives them more time to comply with the government’s new mandatory security guidelines issued in May 2025. Sources told Moneycontrol that both companies already hold GMPCS licenses but must meet the revised security conditions before launching commercial services in India. Story continues below Advertisement Remove Ad “The department has given the extension for companies to meet mandatory security compliance requirements,” a person familiar with the matter said, adding that existing GMPCS licensees will receive formal extension letters by next week. "There is no official spectrum allocation policy yet, so the department had to extend the provisional spectrum timeline for the companies, especially as new use cases for the technology continue to emerge. “The existing GMPCS license holder had written to the department in March when previously allocation of provisional spectrum was acquired, and they sought an extension to comply with new security guidelines.” The extension comes as the government finalises satellite spectrum pricing and rollout conditions following Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) recommendations. Meanwhile, Starlink, owned by SpaceX, is still awaiting provisional spectrum, pending landing rights clearance, which is a prerequisite. “There could be delays in launching commercial services if companies don’t fulfil security requirements in a timely manner,” another person said. The new security framework mandates that satellite operators establish local data centres, enable website blocking, integrate support for NavIC, and commit to phased local manufacturing. It also requires explicit security clearance for each gateway, geo-fencing in sensitive areas, and strict controls over user data routing, which must remain within India. Operators must enable real-time monitoring, lawful interception, terminal registration, and live location tracking, with mobile devices required to report every 2.6 km or one minute, whichever is sooner. Unregistered or foreign terminals will only be permitted after verification, and all user traffic must pass through Indian infrastructure. Direct satellite-to-satellite communication that bypasses Indian gateways is strictly prohibited. Story continues below Advertisement