The Digital Communications Commission (DCC), formerly Telecom Commission, on Thursday approved the issuance of separate licences for satellite earth station gateways that connect space communications with land-based networks, an official source said.

The satellite earth station gateway (SESG) permit holders will not provide any service directly to end customers and be levied a non-refundable one-time entry fee of Rs 10 lakh.

“The DCC has approved the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (Trai) recommendation of the SESG,” the source said.

The SESG licence holder will be allowed to set up several SESGs to cater to the requirement of constellation-based satellite service providers but would need to obtain separate permission from the department of telecommunication (DoT) before installing each SESG.

The SESG licence shall be valid for a period of 20 years from its effective date with a provision for renewal of 10 years.