Starlink gets nod for satcom services as telecom dept issues LoI

Starlink, backed by billionaire Elon Musk, on Wednesday received government nod for satcom services in India, as Department of Telecommunications issued a letter of intent (LoI) to it.

Starlink is a satellite internet service developed by SpaceX—the American aerospace manufacturer and space transportation company founded in 2002 by the world's richest man Musk. It provides high-speed, low-latency broadband internet worldwide using satellite technology and is aptly described by some as broadband beamed from the skies.

Unlike conventional satellite services that rely on distant geostationary satellites, Starlink utilises the world's largest low Earth orbit or LEO constellation (550 km above Earth). This constellation of LEO satellites (7,000 now but eventually set to grow to over 40,000) and its mesh delivers broadband internet capable of supporting streaming, online gaming, and video calls.

The Department of Telecom (DoT) on Wednesday issued Letter of Intent to Starlink, sources said, adding the latter has agreed to the security terms.

The nod for the satcom offering—known for its resilience in harsh conditions and conflict zones—came on a day when India pounded terror camps in Pakistan and PoK (Pakistan occupied Kahsmir) in pre-dawn strikes, retaliating to the Pahalgam massacre.

DoT sources, however, said that the decision was independent of the developments of the day. The government has already issued licences to Eutelsat OneWeb and Jio Satellite Communications—the players will be able to start their services after the allocation of radio wave frequencies.

Telecom regulator TRAI is finalising the recommendations for the allocation of satcom spectrum on an administrative basis.

Earlier this week, the government issued stringent security norms mandating legal interception of satellite communication services and barred companies from linking connection of users in any form with any terminal or facility located outside the country's border as well as processing of their data overseas.

The tighter security rules also mandate service providers to indigenise at least 20% of their ground segment of the satellite network within years of their establishment in the country.

According to the instruction, the satcom service licence holder will require security clearances for specific gateway and hub locations in India and compliance to monitoring, interception facilities and equipment requirements.

India's rules mandate satcom firms to demonstrate system capabilities with respect to security aspects, including monitoring, to the Department of Telecom (DoT) or its authorised representatives before starting operations in India.

On Tuesday, Union Minister Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani, while speaking at an industry event, had said that grant of approval to Elon Musk-led satellite internet provider Starlink is a complicated issue but that it is in the final stages.

The Minister of State for Telecom had said the government's security norms for satcom are important, especially in the present scenario where the hostile nation Pakistan is making an attempt to hack the country's system.

The minister had, however, added that Starlink will have a minuscule role in connectivity compared to traditional telecom networks.

"Starlink or the others, I wanted you to understand that in the entire world the number of subscribers Starlink has is less than 50 lakh. It's not much. If you look at the speed and other stuff it's much slower than the traditional networks. There should not be too much worry about... Starlink coming, taking over, all those things. People don't understand this," Pemmasani had said.

According to him, the role of Starlink or other satcom players will be mainly to connect the remote areas where the traditional networks find it difficult to reach and it will be primarily for the inside home connectivity, not for mobile services.

The minister had also sought to allay fears around satcom services eating into the addressable market of traditional telecom services, saying, "I want people to know whether Starlink and all that stuff, whether they come or not... they will be very small players even if they come."

"It's very expensive to install the initial equipment. It is 10 times more expensive than our traditional models." He said that the monthly payment for consumers will also be quite expensive.

Starlink, which had been vying for a India license for some time now, recently signed pacts with Ambani's Reliance Jio and Mittal's Bharti Airtel, which together control more than 70% of the country's telecom market, to bring the US satellite internet giant's services to India.

Musk is scheduled to visit India later this year.