Elon Musk's Starlink gets green light for satellite internet in India
Starlink, from Elon Musk's SpaceX, just got the initial go-ahead from India's telecom department to run trial satellite internet services.
They're setting up ground stations in 10 cities, with Mumbai as the main hub.
The big goal? Start connecting rural and underserved areas by December 2025.
What's the hold-up? Spectrum allocation is still pending
Starlink has outsourced to Equinix to set up a point of presence (PoP) in Mumbai.
All data will be routed through Indian ground stations—no sending info overseas—to meet local privacy and security rules.
They've secured a key license (GMPCS), but are still waiting on final spectrum allocation.
With more players entering, options will increase for consumers
With Starlink joining the race, competition in India's satellite broadband scene is about to get real.
TRAI wants a 4% revenue charge on these services (which some telecoms aren't happy about).
Meanwhile, rivals like Eutelsat OneWeb and Jio-SES are preparing their own launches, pending regulatory compliance—so expect more options soon if you're tired of patchy rural internet!