The Department of Telecommunications’ Special Secretary N Sivasailam on Tuesday blamed jurisdictional battles between his department and the Indian Space Research Organisation, or ISRO, for delays in connecting remote areas in the country to the information network, PTI reported.

He was speaking at a convention that the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce has organised in Mumbai

“Here is the paradox, we produce the cheapest satellite but the costliest bandwidth,” the official pointed out, adding that ISRO should do more to ensure that bandwidth charges are at par with global standards. If a user has to pay Rs 150 under the current cost structure, in the United States consumers pay Rs 65 for the same amount of bandwidth, he said. The space agency, he said, should add more transponders on its satellites.

“The problem is of domains,” the government official said. “We [DoT] do not want to leave our domain. ISRO does not want to leave its domain. It is a domain related problem...I do not see people coming together and negotiating this aspect out.”

He added the politics had made things difficult, and hoped that the two agencies would solve their problems for everyone’s benefit. “It is time it stopped because it is hurting business development and ultimately people are not getting [benefits].”