The process of licensing SpaceX owner Elon Musk's Starlink in India may move forward soon. According to reports, satellite broadband company Starlink has agreed to meet the government's data localization and security regulations.
According to media reports, in a meeting with the Department of Telecom, Starlink has agreed on terms related to data localization and security for the satellite broadband service license, but the company has not yet filed the agreement.
The Global Mobile Personal Communications by Satellite Services (GMPCS) license is the first step towards setting up satellite Internet. After which spectrum can be obtained for testing by paying a nominal application fee.
Mandatory for satellite communication companies to keep complete data in the country
According to security related regulations, it is mandatory for satellite communication companies operating in the country to keep all data within the country. Starlink may also need to explain how it will get the data if intelligence agencies need it.
Starlink applied for the license in October 2022
Starlink applied for this license in October 2022. After this, the company also applied for approval from the space regulator, Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Center (IN-SPACE). An application with IN-SPACE has also progressed, but additional details are being sought for final approval.
The rules for pricing and spectrum allocation will be decided by the Government of India
Satellite broadband services will start in India only when the government sets the rules for pricing and spectrum allocation. The process can only begin once the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) issues its recommendations, which is expected by the end of December.
Indian companies will compete with global companies like Starlink
In the satellite services sector, Indian companies like Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone-Idea will compete with global companies like Amazon owner Jeff Bezos' Kuiper and Musk's Starlink.
At an open house session last week, representatives of three Indian companies said that only auctioned satellite spectrum should be used to provide satellite-related services to urban or retail customers.
To this demand, Starlink said that telecom/ground services and satellite communications are different in principle, so they should not be compared.
Allocation of spectrum should be done administratively rather than through auction
Starlink India director Pernil Urdwaresh said that if 5G mobile spectrum is shared among telecom companies, it should be allocated administratively rather than through auctions.
IN-SPACE estimates that the country's space economy could grow to $4,400 crore by 2033 and its global market share could increase from about 2% currently to about 8%.
How will the Internet reach you via satellite?
- Satellites make it possible to beam internet coverage from any part of the earth. Satellite networks provide users with high-speed, low-latency Internet coverage. Latency is the time it takes to transmit data from one point to another.
- The Starlink kit includes a Starlink dish, Wi-Fi router, power supply cables and a mounting tripod. For high-speed internet, the dish has to be placed under the open sky. Starlink's app, available on iOS and Android, takes care of setup and monitoring.
Image Credit: (Divya-Bhaskar): Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).
