Elon Musk's internet company Starlink gets India approval: What does this mean? What services will you get? Explained

Billionaire Elon Musk's satellite internet company Starlink received a ‘Letter of Intent’ from the Indian government's Department of Telecommunications (Dot) on May 7, bringing the service a step closer to Indian customers. Mint was the first to report on the development.

A subsidiary of Elon Musk's rocket company SpaceX, Starlink comprises a network of multiple satellites situated in the Earth's atmosphere that work in concert to provide high-speed internet.

We break down what this step towards Starlink's entry into India means, what the next steps are and what the service would likely offer Indian customers.

What is Starlink? What Does it Do?

Starlink is an internet service developed by SpaceX, which provides high-speed, low-latency broadband internet worldwide using satellite technology.

It uses a constellation of 7,000 (intended to increase to 40,000) low-earth orbit (LEO) satellites, situated 550 km above the Earth. Its LEO satellites are the world's largest and deliver broadband internet capable of supporting streaming, online gaming, and video calls.

The most acclaimed use case is its ability to supply internet to rural and underserved areas, where traditional internet modes such as cable or fibre are unreliable or unavailable.

For the tech to work, Starlink's satellites communicate with ground stations and user terminals, which require an unobstructed, clear view of the sky.

What Do Starlink Customers Get?

On the user end, customers are equipped with a Starlink dish, WiFi router/power supply, cables, and base.

Download speeds typically average between 50 to 150 Mbps, with occasional peaks at 200 Mbps. Most users experience speeds above 100 Mbps. Latency is generally between 20 and 60 milliseconds, which can support gaming and video calls.

India, a Lucrative Market for Space Internet

At present, Starlink has over 40 lakh subscribers globally and is said to be adding thousands more per week. It is available in over 100 companies and is eyeing India's lucrative satellite broadband service market. A FICCI-EY report estimates India's space economy at a whopping $44 billion by 2033, from $8.4 billion in 2022.

Apart from Starlink, Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio are also vying for the market. Both also have separate agreements with Starlink for India, which has the world's second largest communications sector. The commercial terms of the deals are not yet known. 

So, What's Next?

Well, DoT's guidelines require providers to submit a yearly plan to the government showing how they will gradually increase local manufacturing of ground segments of their satellite network in the country. Notably, Amazon's Kuiper and Globalstar are still awaiting regulatory clearances.

To comply with data localisation, the government wants companies to ensure that the data centre is based within India’s geographical boundary and shall make provision to provide Domain Name System (DNS) resolution within India’s boundary.

Overall, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) is currently finalising the contours of the satellite spectrum allocation.

(With inputs from PTI)