Starlink Addresses Indian Govt’s Concern, May Launch Services Soon

Reported by Tanay Singh Thakur October 11th, 2023 at 06:56 pm

Starlink could launch satellites from India with the help of ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation). OneWeb, a competitor of Starlink, launched satellites with ISRO from India earlier this year.

Highlights

SpaceX-owned Starlink plans to offer satellite broadband globally to eradicate connectivity issues in regions where traditional fiber internet can't reach.
While the company is already offering services in many countries across the globe, it has not been able to start in a major market - India.
The Indian government isn't comfortable with the notion that data of the customers may be taken outside the boundaries of India since Starlink has a global constellation.

starlink addresses indian govts concern may launch

SpaceX-owned Starlink plans to offer satellite broadband globally to eradicate connectivity issues in regions where traditional fiber internet can't reach. While the company is already offering services in many countries across the globe, it has not been able to start in a major market - India. The Indian government isn't comfortable with the notion that data of the customers may be taken outside the boundaries of India since Starlink has a global constellation. Given it is a matter of national security, the Indian government has not approved Starlink to start offering services in the country.

A recent Financial Express report mentioned that a meeting between the government officials and Starlink turned out to be positive. As per the report, Starlink has addressed the concerns of the government around national security. This could mean that Starlink may receive the GMPCS (Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite) license. Starlink applied for the same last year.

Earlier when Starlink sold pre-bookings in India for USD 99, the government ordered to refund to the customers as the company didn't have the necessary regulatory approvals to start offering services yet. It was a blowback to Starlink's plans in India after which, then India head Sanjay Bhargava stepped down from his role in the company.

However, now things look to be pacing in the right direction for Starlink. The report from FE mentions that Starlink could also launch satellites from India with the help of ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation). OneWeb, a competitor of Starlink, launched satellites with ISRO from India earlier this year.

One of the challenges that Starlink will have to address for the Indian market is its pricing. If the service is meant to offer internet access in rural areas where telcos don't want to invest heavily in telecom infra, then the cost needs to be low as income levels in rural India are way below what India's urban society enjoys.