SpaceX's Starlink, the satellite internet service, inches closer to launch in India following a significant approval from the country's regulatory body.
SpaceX's Starlink has secured a significant milestone in its journey to expand in India, with the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) granting a Letter of Intent (LoI) for conditional approval to begin operations in the country. This move brings Starlink closer to offering commercial broadband services in India, a market with immense potential.
The approval, however, comes with a series of stringent regulatory and security requirements that Starlink must meet to receive its final operating license. These measures aim to ensure national security and control over satellite communications within Indian territory.
Starlink must comply with separate security clearances for each satellite gateway and hub site established in India. Compliance with monitoring and lawful interception infrastructure mandated by Indian authorities is also necessary, requiring earth station gateways to be located within India, with all Indian user traffic being routed exclusively through domestic infrastructure.
Starlink is obliged to store all data collected in India, including network and traffic information, within national borders, ensuring no domestic user traffic leaves the country for overseas servers. Operators must indigenize at least 20% of their ground infrastructure within a few years of launching services to meet India’s localization policies.
The company holds a Unified License with Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite (GMPCS) authorization, a critical bureaucratic approval for commercial satellite broadband services in India. The Indian government has also observed strict ownership disclosure norms, requiring foreign satellite communication providers to disclose ownership structures and confirm no shareholders are from countries sharing land borders with India.
Spectrum allocation by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is still pending but essential before commercial operations commence. Notably, Starlink's user connections in India are capped at 2 million due to spectrum and satellite throughput limitations, with available spectrum approximately allowing a total throughput of 600 Gbps dedicated to Indian users.
The authorization granted by IN-SPACe is valid for five years or until the constellation’s operational life ends, whichever is earlier. The timeline for Starlink's launch in India does not include any specific mention of a referral link for Tesla purchases.
The partnership between Airtel and SpaceX for Starlink's potential entry into India is part of a broader warming of ties between India and Elon Musk's ventures. Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal has met with Starlink executives to discuss investment opportunities. Elon Musk is expected to visit India later this year to potentially advance both Starlink and Tesla's planned entry into the Indian market.
India, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion and around 950 million internet users, represents a massive growth opportunity for Starlink. Just securing a fraction of the country's consumer broadband market could generate billions in revenue for Starlink. If all regulatory hurdles are cleared, Starlink's rollout in India is projected to begin within six to nine months.
- Starlink must adhere to separate security clearances for each satellite gateway and hub site established in India, and comply with monitoring and lawful interception infrastructure mandated by Indian authorities, as these measures are designed to ensure national security and control over satellite communications within Indian territory.
- To meet India’s localization policies, Starlink is obliged to indigenize at least 20% of its ground infrastructure within a few years of launching services, store all data collected in India, including network and traffic information, within national borders, and ensure no domestic user traffic leaves the country for overseas servers.
