Musk's Starlink can offer only 20L connections in India
What's the story
Elon Musk's satellite communication services provider Starlink can only have 20 lakh connections in India, said Union Minister of State for Telecom, Dr. Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar. He made the statement on the sidelines of a review meeting of BSNL. The minister suggested that this limited reach wouldn't significantly impact telecom services of other players in the market.
Service focus
Satcom services to target rural, remote areas
Satcom services, including those from Starlink (it will offer speeds of up to 200Mbps), are expected to target rural and remote areas. However, the minister warned that the initial cost of these satcom services could be too high for many users. He estimated that the monthly subscription fee for such services could be around ₹3,000.
Network expansion
BSNL's 4G rollout complete
Chandra Sekhar also announced that BSNL's 4G rollout is complete. He added that the state-run telco doesn't plan to hike tariffs anytime soon, saying, "We want market first. There are no tariff hikes planned."