The Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre, or IN-SPACe for short, granted Starlink the licence to commercially operate in India for the next five years, making it the third company after Eutelsat\u2019s OneWeb and Reliance Jio to get the nod to bring satellite internet to the country. The approval permits Starlink to use its Gen1 satellite constellation in the country and is valid till July 7, 2030.<\/p>\n
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The regulatory approval does not mean that Starlink will soon start its commercial services in India. A report by Reuters suggests that Starlink still needs to establish ground infrastructure and secure the spectrum from the government. Moreover, the SpaceX-owned service needs to demonstrate through testing and trial that it meets the security rules set by IN-SPACe. This means we might see Starlink start offering its services in India either by the end of the year or sometime next year.<\/p>\n
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What makes Starlink better than broadband and other satellite services?<\/p>\n
Unlike fibre optic-based broadband providers like Airtel, Vodafone Idea, Hathaway, ACT and others, Starlink uses a constellation of satellites to provide internet connectivity. This eliminates the need to set up ground-based infrastructure while also enabling internet access even in the most remote locations on the planet.<\/p>\n
Also, compared to other satellite internet service providers, which often struggle with speed and latency, Starlink uses a constellation of thousands of satellites which can communicate with each other to deliver high-speed internet and reduce latency. Compared to satellites used by companies like Viasat, HughesNet and Amazon, which are pretty large, Starlink\u2019s internet satellites are small and use lasers to transmit signals amongst one another.<\/p>\n
If you want to learn more about how Starlink works and how to set it up, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n How much is Starlink expected to cost in India?<\/p>\n SpaceX has yet to officially reveal how much it will charge Starlink users in India, but if we take a look at the company\u2019s global pricing, the standard hardware is expected to cost $349, which roughly translates to Rs 30,000.<\/p>\n Story continues below this ad<\/p>\n If you want to use Starlink\u2019s satellite internet on the go, you might want to take a look at the mini kit, which costs $499 or approximately Rs 43,000. One thing to note is that Starlink\u2019s internet speed depends entirely on your geographical location, which means you should expect speeds anywhere between 20 Mbps to 264 Mbps.<\/p>\n As for price, several reports have suggested that the promotional monthly subscription plans might start at $10, which amounts to about Rs 900 per month. If you are planning to make Starlink your primary internet service, speculations suggest that the unlimited data plan might be priced somewhere around Rs 3,000 per month.<\/p>\n Earlier this year, in May, Starlink started its services in the neighbouring country of Bangladesh<\/a>, where the service comes with a one-time setup cost of approximately Rs 39,000 and monthly subscription plans starting from Rs 2,990.<\/p>\n The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has also proposed an additional monthly charge of Rs 500 for Starlink users in urban areas, but it remains to be seen if that might be the case. These subscription costs may seem expensive, but if you are someone who is always on the go or lives in an area where internet connectivity is patchy, Starlink might emerge as a viable alternative.<\/p>\n Story continues below this ad<\/p>\n A few months ago, Reliance Jio announced it is tying up with Starlink to sell its equipment in India via physical retail stores<\/a>, with the network operator responsible for Starlink installation and activation. Bharti Airtel<\/a> has also tied up with the Elon Musk-owned company to bring satellite internet to the most remote parts of India<\/a>.<\/p>\n However, Starlink isn\u2019t the only company working on satellite connectivity. Last year, government-owned telecom operator BSNL announced that it is working on a new service called \u201cDirect to Device\u201d<\/a>, which it claims \u201cconverges satellite and terrestrial mobile networks to deliver seamless, reliable connectivity.\u201d<\/p>\n
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