Lok Sabha Question No. 176 (STARRED), answered on 2026-02-11
Subject: Global Satellite Phone Service (GSPS)
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Shri M K Raghavan

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 176 TO BE ANSWERED ON 11 TH  FEBRUARY, 2026

## GLOBAL SATELLITE PHONE SERVICE (GSPS)

## *176.   SHRI M K RAGHAVAN:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the BSNL started sale of Global Satellite Phone Service (GSPS) to the general public and private enterprises and if so, the details thereof including the date of rollout and the categories of services offered;
- (b) whether the Government has prescribed any guidelines or eligibility criteria for citizens and private organisations to avail the GSPS services and if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether the charges for GSPS devices and call/data usage have been finalised by BSNL and if so, the details thereof;
- (d) whether the Government plans to regulate the tariff  to  ensure  affordability  and  if  so,  the details thereof; and
- (e) whether  the  Government  has  taken  any  measures  to  ensure  secure  communication  and prevent misuse of GSPS by unauthorised users and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS AND DEVELOPMENT OF NORTH EASTERN

## REGION (SHRI JYOTIRADITYA M. SCINDIA)

- (a) to (e) A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

## STATEMENT TO BE LAID ON THE TABLE OF LOK SABHA IN RESPECT OF PARTS (a) to (e) OF THE LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.176 FOR 11 TH  FEBRUARY, 2026 REGARDING 'GLOBAL SATELLITE PHONE SERVICE (GSPS).'

(a) BSNL provides Voice Call and SMS services through Global Satellite Phone Service (GSPS) to General Public and Private Enterprises w.e.f. 01.01.2018.

(b) & (e) DoT issued the instructions vide letter dated 12.06.2017 in respect of provision of Satellite based services, which inter-alia mandated that BSNL is required to complete the Customer Acquisition Process prescribed for mobile connections, as amended from time to time. BSNL shall also obtain from the subscriber the details such as place of use, period of use and the purpose for which  Satellite  handset  shall  be  used.  Additionally,  the  GSPS  service  is  inherently  a  secure communication as information is transferred in encrypted form.

(c) BSNL provides only voice and SMS services through GSPS. The details of Tariff Plan for GSPS are attached as Annexure-I .

(d) Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is an independent authority for regulation of tariff for telecommunication services in India .As per the extant regulatory tariff provisions, tariff for telecommunication service is under forbearance except for services such as National Roaming, Rural Fixed Line Services, mobile number portability charges and leased circuits .'Nil 'tariff has been prescribed for Unstructured Supplementary Service Data ( USSD) services to promote financial inclusion etc.among rural unbanked feature phone users .

## Annexure-I of Lok Sabha Starred Question No. 176 for 11.02.2026 Tariff Plan for Global Satellite Phone Services (w.e.f. 01.01.2026)

## A. Post-paid Plans

|    |                                    | Government   | Government   | Commercial   |
|----|------------------------------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|
|    |                                    | Plan G1      | Plan G2      | Plan C1      |
| 1  | Fixed Monthly Charges (₹)          | 3,500        | 5,835        | 11,670       |
| 2  | Free Talk Time (in minutes) or SMS | 16           | 30           | 60           |

## B. Pre-Paid Plans

|    |                                    | Government        | Government      | Commercial        | Commercial       |
|----|------------------------------------|-------------------|-----------------|-------------------|------------------|
|    |                                    | Plan G1 (Monthly) | PlanGA (Annual) | Plan C1 (Monthly) | Plan CA (Annual) |
| 1  | Plan charges (₹)                   | 3,500             | 38,500          | 5,835             | 64,185           |
| 2  | Free Talk Time (in minutes) or SMS | 20                | 240             | 30                | 360              |

- C. After the free talk time and SMS are over than additional Call/SMS charges are required to be paid by the subscribers at the rate of
2.  ₹ 18 /min/SMS for Government customers.
3.  ₹ 25 /min/SMS for Commercial customers.
- D. Additional Recharges/Top-ups for pre-paid plans are available in denominations of (₹) 200/500/1000/5000/10000.

*All charges above are excluding GST

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