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Elon Musk’s SpaceX satellite internet subsidiary, Starlink, has been approved to operate in India by the Indian government. The approval was made public by Union Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Wednesday in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
The approval permits Starlink to enter the Indian telecom market formally. Starlink will now compete alongside other satellite services like OneWeb and Jio Satellite Communications.
Scindia tweeted that he had a ‘productive meeting’ with Gwynne Shotwell, the COO and President of SpaceX. The goal of this meeting was to deliberate on satellite connectivity. They also discussed how Starlink could be used to speed up the Digital India push.
“Satellite technologies are not only relevant, but transforming, with India’s digital revolution led by PM Narendra Modi,” Scindia said in his tweet.
Shotwell, in turn, appreciated the government’s move and referred to the license as ‘a great start to the journey’.
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) recently issued a Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite (GMPCS) licence to Starlink. It is the third company to receive this clearance.
The companies before it were Eutelsat OneWeb, and Jio Satellite Communications. Amazon’s Project Kuiper is also in line for regulatory approval.
Starlink has entered partnership deals with Indian telecom giants Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel. Together, the two operators have a share of more than 70% of India’s telecom market. The deals are likely to assist with last-mile connectivity and hardware delivery, especially in remote and low-infrastructure areas.
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Starlink is most likely to launch unlimited data plans priced below $10 (around ₹840) as a promotional offer. This information was revealed by a recent Economic Times report. Eventually, monthly prices are expected to be between ₹3,000 and ₹4,200 by industry experts.
Indian broadband providers have lower entry points and bundled OTT advantages than Starlink. Reliance Jio home service has a higher entry point of the estimated ₹33,000 hardware kit. The standard package for installation is a satellite dish, router, cables, and other accessories.
Starlink will provide two primary plan tiers in India. 'Residential Lite’ for light users, and ‘Full Residential’ for high-bandwidth customers like streamers and gamers. Starlink’s service, which already has a presence in more than 100 nations, operates on a low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellation.
Customers get an average of between 25 Mbps and 220 Mbps. The mean internet speed is above 100 Mbps. The low-orbit design also minimizes latency, rendering the service ideal for cloud applications and video conferencing.
Starlink is a space-based internet service offered by SpaceX to offer fast broadband across the world. They aim to provide internet in places where there is little terrestrial infrastructure. It utilizes an array of thousands of satellites in low Earth orbit to supply internet access regardless of fiber or mobile infrastructure.
The company’s India entry is also anticipated to augment the Centre’s emphasis on digital infrastructure, particularly in rural and remote areas. The launch also fits the government’s overall drive to increase connectivity and close the digital divide. This will be extremely helpful for the growth of India as a whole and fulfill the nation’s data needs.
