India is on the cusp of welcoming Elon Musk’s Starlink internet service, as the government has officially confirmed that the satellite-based broadband provider has crossed two key regulatory milestones. Speaking exclusively to Digit, Minister of Communications Jyotiraditya Scindia offered a detailed breakdown of Starlink’s licensing progress and what still remains before the company can begin its commercial operations.
During the chat, Scindia stated that Starlink has already been granted a Unified License (UL) in June, which is a critical requirement to operate telecom services in India. It allows a service provider to offer a wide range of telecom services including internet access across the country. “Starlink has been given a UL (a Unified License) in June. They have received their IN-SPACe authorization in the month of July,” Scindia said.
On asking about the formal launch timeline, he added that there are still four or five pending issues after which they can start the service.
“So they need to get their approval for their satcom gateways. They need to identify their points of presence. They need to get their spectrum. They need to get license approvals for their networking equipment that they’re going to set up. And once they comply with all of those, they can certainly start business,” he stated.
Speaking of the importance, Scindia stated that satcom is today’s technology. He also mentioned India’s evolving digital ecosystem and growing ambition to lead in advanced communication technologies.
“I think satcom is imperative for the country. Satcom is a technology that is no longer tomorrow’s technology. It is today’s technology. It’s important for India, which has now transformed itself from being a follower of technology to a leader of technology, to make sure that we adopt state-of-the-art technologies in our country,” he added.
Scindia also connected the need of satcom adoption to India’s broader telecom journey and need of competition. “We have today given out three LIC-ES: one for Jio, one for OneWeb, and now one for Starlink,” he stated.
“It’s my job as telecom minister to make sure that we introduce every technology in our country, thereby giving choice to our customers and second, ensure that we promote a competitive environment, such that the customer always has a choice. And that’s the mission behind which we’ve taken all those actions,” he added.
Starlink’s India launch is much anticipated as it is expected to boost connectivity across rural India through satellite technology and boost digital accessibility.