Billionaire Elon Musk’s satellite internet company, Starlink, can only offer 20 lakh connections to India, Union Minister of State for Telecom Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar said on Monday. The limit, according to him, will make sure that the service will not be a major threat to the current telecom players, including state-owned BSNL. Starlink offers a satellite-backed connection that can reach up to 200 Mbps and mostly targets rural and remote areas that lack coverage of a conventional telecom network.
Addressing a review meeting on the network rollout of BSNL, Pemmasani said the cost of the services offered by Starlink will be relatively expensive, with the amount to be paid by the customers of approximately 3000 rupees in a month. This fierce pricing, along with the capping of connection, will make Starlink compete in the niche side instead of competing with mainstream telecom services.
Regulatory Boards (IN-SPACe) regulatory status in India earlier this month, which allows Starlink to target satellite-based internet in the country. In June, the company had already been granted licences by the Department of Telecommunications to provide Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite (GMPCS) services, Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) services, and Internet Service Provider (ISP) Category-A services.
Starlink is becoming the third ISP licensed to provide satellite internet in India, alongside OneWeb and Jio. An interesting fact is that both Airtel and Jio have joined the alliance with Starlink to facilitate the deployment of its high-speed services to their dealer networks.
Since 2022, the Starlink services have gone through delays on a national security and regulatory basis. This is because Starlink is set to enter the satellite internet market in the country with the recent clearances, which are expected to fill the gap between people in rural and other underserved locations lacking access to the internet, and the more established telecom service providers will remain intact.
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