Starlink onboarded by UIDAI as Sub-AUA and sub-eKYC agency for voluntary Aadhaar authentication.
Company still needs to set up gateways, networking approvals, and infrastructure before launch.
Expected costs: Rs 30,000–35,000 for installation and Rs 3,000–4,200 monthly plans, though not yet confirmed.
Elon Musk’s satellite internet capability, Starlink, has secured approval to conduct Aadhaar-based verification of its potential users in India, hinting at an imminent commercial rollout in the country. As per the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY), it has been onboarded by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) as a Sub Authentication User Agency (Sub-AUA) and eKYC through partner agencies, though the ministry clarified that the process will remain voluntary for customers.
SurveyThe authority further stated that the Aadhaar-based eKYC will make Starlink’s onboarding smooth, secure, and easy for households, businesses, and institutions. Last month, Minister of State for Communications Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar had stated that the company agreed to store network traffic and user data locally.
A few weeks back, in a conversation with Digit, Telecom minister Jyotiraditya Scindia mentioned that Starlink had received a Unified License (UL) in June. He also added that the company received the IN-SPACe authorization in July. However, he did mention that the company needs to cross 4-5 checkpoints before starting their operation in India, including the satcom gateways, points of presence, license approvals for their networking equipment that they’re going to set up, and more.
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Starlink has now officially joined Bharti-backed Eutelsat OneWeb and Reliance Jio-SES as the third satcom player. Additionally, Amazon’s Project Kuiper and Apple supplier Globalstar have also applied for licences.
However, the exact details about Starlink’s official India entry, including the date, price, plans, and more remain under wraps. As per the reports, the Starlink one-time installation could cost Rs 30,000 and Rs 35,000. The monthly plans could be priced between Rs 3,000 and Rs 4,200. It may offer internet speeds between 25Mbps and 220Mbps. Do note that these details are yet to be confirmed at the moment.
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Ashish Singh
Ashish Singh is the Chief Copy Editor at Digit. He's been wrangling tech jargon since 2020 (Times Internet, Jagran English '22). When not policing commas, he's likely fueling his gadget habit with coffee, strategising his next virtual race, or plotting a road trip to test the latest in-car tech. He speaks fluent Geek. View Full Profile
