Musk's Starlink Nears India Launch with Government Nod
- Starlink gets LoI from India's Department of Telecom to offer satellite internet services
- Piyush Goyal meets Starlink executives to discuss investment plans in India
- Elon Musk to visit India later this year to push forward Starlink operations
Elon Musk's satellite-internet project Starlink has made a significant leap in its path to offering services in India. The Department of Telecom (DoT) has granted a Letter of Intent (LoI) to Starlink, marking the first government go-ahead for the project. The approval comes after Starlink agreed to comply with India's recently prescribed national security standards for satellite communication operators.
These guidelines comprise 29 other requirements like establishing local data centers, introducing interception and monitoring capabilities, providing location tracking for user terminals, and following localization mandates. With this LoI, Starlink is now waiting for the final go-ahead from the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe), having already filed the necessary documents. IN-SPACe's approval is needed before spectrum allocation can be carried out.
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal recently met senior executives of Starlink, namely Vice President Chad Gibbs and Senior Director Ryan Goodnight, and discussed the investment plans of the company in the future in India. "Meeting discussions included Starlink's world-class technology platform, their ongoing partnerships and forthcoming investment plans in India", said Goyal after the meeting in a post on X.
In the process, local telco giants also are getting ready to join the satellite plans. Airtel is said to be negotiating with Starlink in terms of opening partnerships for satcom internet plans. Vodafone Idea has similarly shown interest to partner with Starlink to consolidate connectivity, primarily in remote and backward areas.
Union Telecommunications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia pointed out how satellite internet could help rural India, underpinning the push by the government to close digital gaps using technologies like these.
Operated by Musk's space exploration company SpaceX, Starlink hopes to provide cheap, high-speed internet across the world, especially in remote and rural regions. SpaceX, which became history when it launched the first private spacecraft carrying astronauts to the International Space Station, has already launched hundreds of satellites to aid the Starlink project.
Elon Musk is also scheduled to visit India later this year, possibly moving forward negotiations regarding Starlink's full-scale operations in the country.
