Elon Musk-backed Starlink is understood to have addressed the department of telecommunications’ concerns on national security related to its proposed satellite communication services in the country, officials said. A meeting between the two sides was held on Tuesday, officials added.
The US-based satellite internet services provider, which is looking to expand its operations in the country, applied for the Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite (GMPCS) licence last year. The application, once approved, will pave the way for Starlink to join Bharti Enterprises-backed OneWeb and Jio Satellite to offer satellite-based broadband services in India.
“The meeting with Starlink was positive. It was more to know about the compliance of their services and infra set up in the country with regard to national security,” a senior government official said. As part of the next steps, the government is expected to have a meeting internally involving the home ministry and Indian Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe), and may decide to issue a letter of intent to the company to start its operations in India, officials said.
One of the concerns of the government was that Starlink’s satellite constellation is global, and this may lead to transfer of Indian data traffic abroad. To address this concern, Starlink may launch its fleet of satellites from India just like OneWeb did with Isro or partner with an Indian satellite operator, sources said.
Last year in October, FE was the first to report that the company had re-initiated talks with the DoT to apply for the GMPCS licence.
Separately, the company has also applied for approval from the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) for offering internet services in the country.
FE last week reported that Amazon has also submitted its application to DoT for satellite communication services in India. The US-based company has applied for the licence under its Project Kuiper programme and will offer satellite-based Internet.
According to IN-SPACe, size of the Indian space economy is expected to be around $44 billion, including $11 billion of exports over the next 10 years.