Starlink, the satellite broadband subsidiary of Elon Musk‘s SpaceX, plans to offer broadband services in India in December 2022. According to a top company official, the corporation is now awaiting government approval for two lakh active terminals.
In a LinkedIn post on his first day in office, Starlink Country Director for India Sanjay Bhargava stated that the company has already received 5,000 pre-orders in India and that the company is eager to engage in rural regions to provide internet services.
“Our long-term goal is to have 200,000 active terminals in India by December 2022. If we do not receive official approval, actual numbers may be substantially lower or even nil, but it is highly improbable that we will reach 2,00,000, “Bhargava explained.
Customers who want to be on a priority list must pay a deposit of $99 or ₹7,350. Once the service is enabled, the pre-order money will be applied to the monthly fee. People can also request a refund, but their priority status will be lost.
In the beta stage, it claims to give data speeds of 50 to 150 megabits per second. In the broadband market, the startup will compete against Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea, as well as Bharti Group-backed OneWeb.
A distant location of Goa requested Starlink. We’ll be collaborating with rural constituencies that want 100 percent broadband. Most of this will be given by terrestrial broadband, while Satcom operators such as Starlink will handle the hard-to-reach locations,” Bhargava said.
“We look forward to the day when an Indian rural constituency may declare itself 100% broadband.” Politicians and officials interested in collaborating with Starlink and other broadband providers are encouraged to reach out to him.
Starlink stated in a pre-order letter that its service is available in many countries and that if it receives many pre-orders from India, it will be easier to obtain regulatory clearances.
“The approval process with the government is complicated. There is currently no application pending with the government, so it is up to us to apply for consideration, which we are doing now. If pan-India approval will take a long time, our strategy will be to get pilot clearance first. “We expect to receive approval for a pilot programme or Pan India approval in the coming months,” the memo stated. Because of a lack of semiconductors and liquid oxygen, the delivery of Starlink services is also dubious, according to the memo.
“The rate at which Starlink kits can be built has been hampered by the semiconductor shortage. There is a scarcity of liquid oxygen, which is needed by rockets to launch more Starlink satellites into orbit. There is a large global backlog as global pre-orders have surpassed 5,00,000 and roughly 1,00,000 terminals are operational “according to the Starlink memo.
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