NEW DELHI: Starlink has received approval from India's space regulator, the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe), to launch commercial satellite broadband services in India. Elon Musk's company becomes the third such operator in the country after Eutelsat OneWeb and Jio Satellite Communications.
The company had already received a license from the Department of Telecommunication (DoT) and was waiting for approval from India's space department. After the approval, Starlink can apply for a test spectrum for service demonstrations.
Starlink will now need to secure spectrum from the government, set up ground infrastructure, and demonstrate through testing and trials that it meets the security rules it has signed up for.
Satellite communication (Satcom) uses satellites to transmit data and voice across areas where traditional fiber-optic cables are impractical, particularly valuable in rural, mountainous, and disaster-prone regions where terrestrial networks are either too expensive or impossible to deploy.
This marks the formal entry of Elon Musk, the world's richest man, into India's communication services sector. Starlink had been attempting to enter India's satellite communications market since 2021 but started accepting orders before receiving formal approval to operate in India. Subsequently, the government instructed the company to refund customers.
Starlink currently operates in over 125 countries. However, the application from Jeff Bezos-owned Amazon Kuiper is yet to be approved. According to reports, Apple's satcom partner Globalstar is also among the global players interested in offering broadband-from-space services in India.