New Delhi: Elon Musk’s satcom venture Starlink on Wednesday cleared the final hurdle for launch of services in India, as the company received satellite authorisation approval from Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe). Earlier, the company had received a license to offer satellite services in India from the department of telecom (DoT) on June 5, and the IN-Space clearance now paves the way for it to start work on setting up ground infrastructure to begin services, possibly over the next few months. The company, like other players in the industry, awaits allotment of satcom spectrum from the govt. IN-SPACe granted authorization to Starlink Satellite Communications Private Limited (SSCPL) for enabling provisioning of low-earth orbit (LEO) satellites constellation, namely Starlink Gen1. “IN-SPACe authorization to SSCPL has a validity period of five years from the date of authorization or end of operational life of Gen1 constellation – whichever is earlier. The roll-out of services is subject to the stipulated regulatory provisions and requisite clearance/approval/license from the relevant government department(s),” the satellite authorisation body said.The Starlink Gen1 Constellation is a global constellation with 4,408 satellites orbiting earth in altitudes varying between 540-570 kms capable of providing 600 Gbps throughput over India.In June, Starlink had received approval for three licenses — Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite (GMPCS), Commercial Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT), and Internet Service Provider (ISP) after trying for years to get a go-ahead. “With the approvals done, the company will now begin work to set up ground infrastructure for enabling services. A lot of equipment will also be imported and approvals will be sought for the same,” sources said.Starlink currently has a subscriber base of over 5 million customers globally, and is looking to grow this exponentially as it begins services in a telecom-heavy market like India.The initial business case for the company remains connecting the unserved and remote telecom areas (rural and mountainous regions), enterprises like mining, and govt, maritime, and aviation sectors. However, industry players believe that the company will also target urban areas with broadband services, many of whom would buy it to have additional connectivity and initially due to the novelty factor.According to reports by a section of analysts, Starlink is expected to go aggressive in India and launch its services at data prices under Rs 1,000, which still would be significantly higher to the fibre-to-home broadband rates given by Reliance Jio and Airtel. Also, for satcom, consumers will also need to invest in home hardware cost, which currently costs upwards of Rs 20,000 (when converted to Indian currency), many times over to what a broadband router costs. The company may also subsidise this in line with its business plans and network bandwidth.Sources said the govt sees the entry of satellite services in India as a positive for boosting mobile coverage. It feels that Starlink and other satcom ventures will help get 100% mobile coverage across the length and breadth of the country, while adding a new operator in the market.Starlink has also stitched up alliances with Jio and Airtel ahead of its launch. In March, both Jio and Airtel had signed up separate deals with Starlink to market Musk’s satcom services in India while also looking at network augmentation opportunities. This happened after a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra and Musk during the former’s visit to the US in February.
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