The ambitious satellite internet project of Elon Musk, Starlink has been one step closer to finally gaining its entry into the Indian market. It has already obtained temporary provisional spectrum clearance in the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to begin trial satellite broadband services.
The move is a significant milestone to Starlink, which has been aggressively working on regulatory sanctions in India over the last few years.
Should they work, such demonstrations would lead to a commercial deployment of the high-speed internet services offered by Starlink at the end of 2025 or early 2026, and scaffold affordable broadband services to millions, especially in rural and remote communities.
Construction of Ground Infrastructure.
The second thing that Starlink has to do is to establish the ground infrastructure required. The DoT has forced the company to put up landing stations as a way of linking its satellites to the terrestrial networks in India. It has been reported that Starlink will install base stations in 10 various points with Mumbai as a central point.
To manage this, Starlink has teamed with Equinox, a world-renowned data center and interconnection network provider to construct its lead gateway at Mumbai. Such infrastructure will play a vital role in ensuring that users traffic is confined within the borders of India- a major security measure that regulators in India demanded.
Control Walls and Measures.
Starlink was already licensed as a Global Mobile Personal Communications by Satellite (GMPCS) which is required to use satellite internet. Other than this, the company has been able to satisfy initial security requirements of its Letter of Intent (LoI) as well.
But before proceeding to full-fledged services, Starlink is yet to demonstrate that it has met the stringent standards of cybersecurity and national security in India. As an example, operators are required to ensure that Indian user data does not get decrypted or it is not redirected out of the country. In these trial runs, which may take up to six months, the evidence should be compliance with these norms.
Competition and Industry Environment.
The development of Starlink coincides with the period during which India is concluding its satellite communication (satcom) policies. There are also Unified licences issued to the satellite internet services through the government and through this the operators can proceed to commercial operations after the final allocations of the spectrums have been declared.
But the industry is split on spectrum fees. Large telecoms such as Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel have objected to so-called artificially low satcom rates, claiming that such rates would give Starlink an unjust advantage.
This struggle demonstrates just how competitive the market that Starlink will enter will appear because the telecommunications giants have already been heavily investing in fiber broadband and 5G services.
Why Starlink is important in India.
India has one of the quickest expanding internet markets worldwide, and digital access has been uneven. As cities are already provided with high-speed broadband and 5G networks, rural and remote areas remain underserved because laying fiber cables is not an easy or inexpensive task.
In this regard, Starlink can be transformative. Starlink will be able to offer 25 Mbps to 220 Mbps over a satellite constellation that will consist of satellites on low-Earth orbits (LEO), without laying physical cables to establish a reliable connection. The service is especially well adapted to villages, hilly areas, border areas and islands where traditional broadband rollouts have not succeeded.
Should it be commercialized, Starlink would be a complement to the Digital India mission in India, helping to close the digital divide and allowing communities to access online education, e-health, e-commerce, and online-banking.
Anticipated Price and Availability
Although the official India price has yet reached, the global model of Starlink provide some insight. Customers worldwide receive a one time payment to the user terminal (dish kit) and a monthly subscription plan.
It is estimated by the industry that Indian pricing might be based on a system that can provide both affordability and high quality service-probably not as low as mass-market fiber broadband but not as expensive as corporate satellite offerings.
This might be a game-changer even at the expense of remote schools, farmers, and businesses, as high reliability of connectivity may sometimes override cost considerations in areas where other options are just not there at all.
Looking Ahead
The spectrum clearance, provisional, is only a prelude but an indication of a serious regulatory intent to introduce next-generation satellite broadband services to the Indian market. In the coming months, the focus will be on Starlink as it undertakes its experiments, develops infrastructure and passes regulatory hurdles.
Providing it works, Starlink would transform the connectivity environment in India, allowing millions of citizens to jump into the digital economy. Meanwhile, it will probably introduce intense competition with local telecommunications providers and move the industry towards more extensive coverage, higher speeds, and increasingly innovative services.
Starlink is not only another broadband provider in India, but it may be the solution to providing universal access to the internet in the most populous country in the world.
