ISRO's Licensing Role Comes Under US Scrutiny
Curtesy by Space Daily

The role of India Space Research Organisation in influencing the licensing policy for hiring foreign satellites by telecom and broadcasting firms, has come the scanner of the US Department of Commerce.

An annual review, completed under an American law identifying barriers facing the US telecom and equipment suppliers, has found a conflict of interest between ISRO's "unofficial" role as a regulator and service provider for renting capacity on its satellites.

The Office of the US Trade Representative has said it would "continue to monitor all of these issues and encourage countries to address these concerns in ongoing engagement over the following year".

It said although India's Department of Telecommunications and the Information and Broadcasting Ministry act as licensing authorities for companies interested in utilising foreign satellite capacity, ISRO seems to greatly influence the licensing process.

ISRO "appears to exert enormous influence over the licensing process and prevents companies from contracting directly with foreign satellite operator," the review done under Section 1377 of the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 said.

Thus, the organisation plays an "unofficial policy role" and at the same time acts as a competitor to the foreign satellite operators, since it owns and operates India's domestic satellite system INSAT.

"This presents a serious conflict of interest that is likely to put foreign satellite operators at a competitive disadvantage and also limit the number of choices available to Indian telecommunications and broadcast companies in need of satellite capacity," the review said.