Elon Musk-owned Starlink has received the last remaining regulatory clearance from the government, paving the way for the company to start offering satcom services in India.
In May, the company had received an operator licence from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) — three years after first applying for one — and on Wednesday, the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) granted authorisation to the satcom company for its satellite constellation.
“IN-SPACe has granted authorisation to Starlink Satellite Communications for enabling provisioning of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites constellation, namely Starlink Gen1,” the agency, which operates under the Department of Space, said in a statement. It added that the authorisation will enable Starlink to provide satellite communication services in India.
“IN-SPACe authorisation to (Starlink) has a validity period of five years from the date of authorisation or end of operational life of Gen1 constellation — whichever is earlier. The roll-out of services is subject to the stipulated regulatory provisions and requisite clearance/approval/license from the relevant government department(s),” it added.
The Starlink Gen1 Constellation is a global constellation with 4,408 satellites orbiting earth in altitude varying between 540-570 km, capable of providing around 600 Gbps throughput over India.
Since turning its attention to launching services in India three years ago, Starlink came up against the country’s telecom giants Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel, and differed with the former over how frequency for such airwaves should be assigned to satcom operators. While Starlink lobbied for administrative allocation, Jio made a pitch for the auction route. The government had opted for the administrative route, given that spectrum used for satellite communication is shared spectrum and is technically difficult to auction.
While the telcos and Starlink will compete against each other to offer their services in the country, a market that is expected to cater to largely well-to-do families in urban areas owing to the communication service’s higher cost, Starlink had inked separate retail partnerships with Jio Platforms, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries, and Airtel, for them to offer its service to their customers.
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How do satcom services work
Satellite communication services rely on an array of satellites in orbit to offer connectivity to homes and businesses on the ground. They are an alternative to ground-based communication, called terrestrial networks, such as cable, fibre, or digital subscriber line (DSL), and they don’t require wires to transmit data. Starlink operates the world’s largest satellite constellation, with around 7,000 satellites in orbit.
For end-users, satellite-based communication and broadband services offer benefits on two key points: wider coverage, and a more resilient network. Even though the latency of satcom services can at times be higher than terrestrial broadband networks, they can cover vast swathes of areas with very little physical equipment needing to be installed.
DoT guidelines for satcom companies
In May, the DoT had released guidelines for satellite communication companies. The norms call for companies to set up local manufacturing, data localisation, use domestic navigation systems, implement a blocking mechanism, and cooperate with law enforcement agencies.
According to the guidelines, satcom companies will have to share with the government a year-wise phased manufacturing plan aiming at indigenisation to a level of at least 20 per cent of their ground segment of the satellite network that is established at the end of 5 years after launching commercial operations.
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The companies should also ensure provisioning of NavIC based positioning systems in their user terminals on “best effort basis,” along with a transition plan to implement NavIC in a time-bound manner by 2029. NavIC, or Navigation with Indian Constellation, is India’s regional satellite navigation system, similar to GPS, which is a global system developed by the US.
Companies will have to provide real time monitoring to ensure that no user traffic originating from, or destined for India is being routed through any gateway outside Indian territory. They will also have to submit an undertaking that they will not copy and decrypt Indian telecom data outside India.
Operators would need to implement service restrictions to “any individual, group of subscribers or certain geographical areas” during “hostilities,” the guidelines said. These companies will have to seek separate clearance (“from security angle”) for voice service and data service. Satcom operators will also have to ensure that their data centres are based within the geographical boundary of India and shall make provision to provide Domain Name System (DNS) resolution within its territory.
