Elon Musk-owned Starlink, a global satellite communications (satcom) services provider, may finally get conditional approval from the Government of India (GoI) to offer services in the sub-continent country. But the said approval is only going to come if the equipment used by the company is not shared with any United States (US) agencies and the data should also not be stored or shared outside India.
According to an ET report, the government could ask Starlink to partner up with an Indian company for a fixed time to offer services. It is worth noting that Elon Musk is scheduled to arrive in India later this month and meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The meeting is expected to result in Tesla opening a manufacturing or an assembling factory in India. There were also reports making rounds online that Tesla is looking to partner up with Reliance to set up a joint venture (JV) for manufacturing EVs (electric vehicles) in India.
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Starlink's approval has been put on hold by the government because of its alleged ties with the US government. GoI wants to ensure that no data of Indians is being shared with the US government or agencies by Starlink. Starlink wants to serve in the B2C domain, which is in contrast with the plans of Eutelsat OneWeb and Jio Satellite Communications Limited.
Starlink had earlier started selling pre-booking connections in India, but then due to not having the appropriate licenses, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) asked the company to refund the pre-booking amount to the customers. Since 2021, Starlink has been trying to get the necessary nod from the government, but due to many roadblocks, that hasn't come.
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Starlink has told the Indian government that it plans to offer internet services in backward or rural areas for 'free' using the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF).
