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Elon Musk’s internet company Starlink is going to launch its services in India soon. The company is likely to get the license India.
Starlink requires GMPCS (Global Mobile Personal Communication Satellite) service license to provide satellite broadband services in India. OneWeb and Jio Satellite Communications Limited have already obtained this license.
A high-level meeting is scheduled to take place later this month, reports The Times of India. It is there that Starlink’s proposal for a GMPCS service license will be discussed. The proposal is likely to be approved.
Starlink is already offering commercial internet services in different parts of the world. But it is very expensive for a consumer to purchase.
Incidentally, when Starlink started pre-booking in India in 2021, they were charging USD 99 per connection.
Although that did not include the cost of equipment. Therefore, Starlink’s satellite broadband costs a lot, both in terms of equipment and internet plans. At least, much more than market-current fiber broadband connections.
But Starlink needs more than a GMPCS license to start services in India. And that process can only begin with a GMPCS license. After that the organization has to get approval from various government departments.
Not only that, Starlink also needs to get approval from the Department of Space. The country’s telecom department ordered Starlink to refund pre-bookings to consumers due to lack of proper licenses and permissions.
Following the directive, Elon Musk’s satellite broadband company also refunded the pre-booking money of its customers. More than a year and a half since then, there has been no progress in offering Starlink satellite internet services in India.
The strategy that Starlink will adopt to compete with OneWeb and Jio in the Indian market is going to be really interesting. Meanwhile, OneWeb is also expected to launch their services soon. That’s because a few months ago they met the global Leo satellite constellation goal.
