The government and telecom regulator TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) have dismissed concerns raised by telecom operators that satellite broadband players such as Starlink and Amazon Kuiper could disrupt the telecom market and erode operator revenues. Authorities have asserted that satellite communication (satcom) and terrestrial telecom services operate in distinct spheres, with satellite broadband expected to play only a limited role in the Indian market.
According to estimates, Starlink is projected to have about one million subscribers in India by 2028–29. This figure stands in stark contrast to the 1.2 billion 4G and 5G users and 75 million wired broadband users currently served by traditional telecom networks, ETTelecom reported, citing officials who further underscored that satcom services will be significantly more expensive, both in terms of tariffs and hardware.
“Satcom tariffs are set to be around eight times higher than those for terrestrial telecom services while the one-time hardware cost will be 13 times higher.”
High Costs Make Satcom Unviable for Mass Market
Based on international pricing, officials estimate Starlink’s one-time hardware cost in India could range between Rs 20,500 and Rs 21,000, with monthly plans expected to cost between Rs 2,720 and Rs 2,800. In comparison, terrestrial telecom operators offer wired broadband plans ranging from Rs 500 to Rs 1,000, with state-owned BSNL providing entry-level plans at Rs 329 for 1,000 GB of data.
COAI Criticises Spectrum Pricing
Telecom operators, under the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), have recently written to various government authorities, criticising the TRAI’s recommendations on satellite communication (satcom) spectrum pricing. They argued that the proposed pricing was unjustifiably low and would create a non-level playing field, potentially undermining the viability of terrestrial telecom services. However, the government and TRAI have rejected these claims.
Officials highlighted that Starlink’s projected annual data capacity in India is around 1,035 petabytes, a figure dwarfed by the capacity of terrestrial operators. Starlink has applied to IN-SPACe for authorisation of 600 Gbps over India. Taking 75 percent for downlink purposes, 450 Gbps has been considered for the calculation of download capacity.
“Starlink may have around 1035 PB of data capacity over India in a year, which is nothing when compared to capacities of terrestrial operators,” an official was quoted as saying.
According to the report, the capacity generation potential of Starlink has been derived from what Starlink has told the Indian authorities. The numbers arrived at in the comparative analysis are only generic and not made part of any official document by the government and the regulator, according to officials.
“The exercise was undertaken to get an idea around satcom and its potential,” a second official was quoted as saying in the report.
TRAI, too, has not taken into account the demand by telcos for a level playing field with satcom players, as the regulator felt that the two services are different. It has presented a comparative analysis of the two services, as per which satcom is nowhere close to the capacities of telcos, the officials were quoted as saying.
TRAI’s comparative analysis further supports the regulator’s position. It estimates that the network capacity of a typical terrestrial wireless access operator using fixed wireless access technology would reach around 168 terabits per second (Tbps) in the near- to medium-term. In contrast, the capacity of major non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) satellite providers, including Starlink and OneWeb, is expected to be between 0.6 and 3 Tbps. This translates to a capacity ratio of 56:1 to 280:1 in favour of terrestrial networks.
Officials clarified that the analysis was conducted internally to understand satcom’s potential, and does not constitute an official policy document. TRAI also reiterated that the two technologies serve different market segments, and therefore do not warrant identical regulatory treatment.
In essence, the government maintains that satellite broadband services are complementary, not competitive, to terrestrial telecom infrastructure, and are likely to serve niche markets such as remote or underserved regions rather than mainstream urban users.
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