Elon Musk will provide satellite internet services in India: His company Starlink may get license soon; Airtel-Jio also in the race
Elon Musk’s company Starlink may soon get a license to provide voice and data communication services in the country. An ET report states that the Indian government is satisfied with the response received by Starlink on data storage and transfer norms.
A government official said, ‘The responses given by Starlink to our questions appear to be satisfactory…After the completion of security checks, the company will be given a Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite Services (GMPCS) license to provide the service. ‘
GMPCS will be the third company to get the license.
Starlink is a subsidiary of SpaceX. After getting the license, it will be able to provide satellite broadband, voice and messaging services to individuals and organizations in India. If approved, Starlink will be the third company to receive a GMPCS license.
Airtel and Jio have already got this license.
Before this, Bharti Airtel backed company OneWeb and Reliance Jio have got the license to provide satellite services. On the other hand, Jeff Bezos’s company Amazon has also applied for a license from the Department of Telecommunications, but the government has not yet discussed it.
Services also require approval from IN-SPACe
Satcom service providers also require approval from the autonomous space regulator Indian Space Regulator Indian (IN-SPACe). After this the companies will have to wait for the spectrum allocation from DoT.
The government is awaiting recommendations from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on how to allocate spectrum, or radio frequencies, for satellite services in the country. However, recommendations are unlikely to come until TRAI finds a new chairman.
Starlink provides fast internet even in remote areas. The
work of Starlink is to connect remote areas with fast internet through satellite. In this, the company provides a kit which includes router, power supply, cable and mounting tripod. For high-speed internet, the dish is placed under the open sky. Starlink’s app is available on iOS and Android, which takes care of setup and monitoring
This is SpaceX’s second attempt to enter India. This
is SpaceX’s second attempt to establish a foothold in the Indian satcom market. In the first attempt, it had started taking pre-booking amount from applicants for its services, but DoT asked the company to take regulatory approval to provide services. After this, Starlink returned the pre-booking amount taken from all the applicants.
OneWeb-Jio want to take first mover advantage.
OneWeb and Jio are trying to launch their services rapidly to take advantage of first mover advantage in India’s satcom market. Earlier this month, Jio had demonstrated its space fiber technology in front of PM Modi at the Indian Mobile Congress event. Starlink currently provides its services in more than 60 countries.
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