File Photo: The Starlink logo is seen in front of the Indian flag in these illustration tasks, June 21, 2023. Reuters/given Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo | Photo Credit: GIVEN RUVIC
Starlink, backed by billionaire Elon Musk, received on Wednesday the government’s assent for Satcom services in India, since the telecommunications department issued a letter of intention (Loi).
Starlink is a satellite internet service developed by Spacex: the American aerospace transport company and the space transport company founded in 2002 by the richest man in the world.
It provides high -speed broadband Internet and low latency worldwide using satellite technology and is rightly described by some as radiant broadband of heaven.
Unlike conventional satellite services that are based on distant geostational satellites, Starlink uses the largest low earth orbit in the world or Leo’s constellation (550 km on earth).
This constellation of Leo satellites (7000 now, but possible to grow to grow to more than 40,000) and its mesh offers broadband Internet capable of supporting the transmission, online games and video calls.
The Telecom Department (DOT) issued on Wednesday a letter of intention to Starlink, said the sources that added that the letter agreed the terms of security.
The wink for the offer of Satcom known for its resilience in hard conditions and conflict zones on a day when India hit the terrorist camps in Pakistan and Pok in attacks prior to dawn, taking reprisals to the Pahalgam massacre.
However, DOT sources said the decision was independent of the developments of the day.
The government has already issued licenses to Eutelsat Oneweb and Jio Satellite Communications: players will be able to start their services after the radio wave frequency allocation.
The telecommunications regulator Trai is completion of the recommendations for the allocation of the SATCOM spectrum on an administrative basis.
Earlier this week, the Government issued strict safety standards that require a legal interception of satellite communication services and prohibited colleagues from linking the connection of users in any way with any location of the terminal or facilities locity located outside the country.
The strictest security rules also require service providers to indigenize at least 20 percent of the land segment of their satellite network within the years of their establishment in the country.
In accordance with the instruction, the SATCOM service holder will require security authorizations for specific Link and HUB in India locations and compliance with the monitoring, interception facilities and equipment requirements.
The rules of India demand SATCOM companies must demonstrate system capabilities regarding security aspects, including monitoring, the Telecommunications Department (DOT) or their authorized representatives before starting operations in India.
On Tuesday, the minister of the Union, Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani, while talking in an industry event, said the concession of approval to the satellite Internet supplier led by Elon Musk Starlink is a complicated problem, but that is in the final stages.
Telecom Minister of State had said that Government Security standards for Satcom are important, especially in the current scenario where the Hostile Pakistan nation is trying to hack the country’s system.
However, the minister had added that Starlink will have a tiny role in connectivity compared to traditional telecommunications networks.
“Starlink or the others, I wanted you to understand that throughout the world the number of subscribers that Starlink has is less than 50 Lakh. It is not much. If you look at speed and other things, it is much slower than traditional networks. Those things.
According to him, the role of Starlink or other Satcom players will be mainly to connect remote areas where traditional networks find that it is different to reach, and it will be mainly for internal household connectivity, not for mobile services.
The minister had also tried to calm the fears about the services of Satcom that ate the direct telecommunications services market, saying: “I want people to know Wheter Starlink and all that, whether or not they are … they are very pleasant players.” “It is very expensive to install the initial equipment. It is 10 times more extent than our traditional models.” He said that the payment of months for consumers will also be quite expensive.
Starlink, who had been competing for a license from India for some time, recently signed Pact with the Reliance Jio de Ambani and Bharti Airtel de Mittal, which together control more than 70 percent of the country’s telecommunications market, to bring the Usellite.
Musk is scheduled to visit India at the end of this year.
Posted on May 8, 2025
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