Starlink owned by Billionaire Elon Musk has been barred from taking pre-orders for its upcoming satellite broadband Internet services in India. The Department of Telecommunication DOT issued a statement on late Friday that It’s hereby informed to the public at large that the company has not obtained any license/authorisation for rendering satellite-based internet services in India that are being booked on their website. Accordingly, Government has asked the company to comply with regulations and refrain from “booking/rendering the satellite internet services in India with immediate effect”.
Starlink registered its business in India on Nov 1 and then it started taking pre-orders for the beta version of the service for a fully refundable deposit of $99 (around ₹7,400).
Starlink is a satellite internet provider
Those who don’t know about Starlink – it provides high-speed low latency broadband internet service across the globe by thousands of small satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO). Starlink is a constellation of thousands of satellites that orbits much closer to Earth at about 550KM. In 2018, two prototype test-flight satellites were launched. and by May 2019, additional 60 satellites were deployed in operation, aiming to deploy 1,440 satellites to provide near-global service by late 2021 or 2022. As of November 2021, the beta service offering is available in 20 countries.
Since it is based on satellite it can deliver high-speed broadband internet service even in an unconnected area where conventionally services are unreliable and too expensive.
Major Setback for Starlink to Debut in India by the end of 2021
Major setback for Elon Musk owned company to Early Debut in Indian Market by the end of 2021 and take a leading position. The ministry has categorically told to Indian citizens that Starlink was not an authorised licensee and advised them “not to subscribe” to Starlink’s services. On other hand, its competitor Bharti-backed OneWeb, Jeff Bezos-founded Amazon, and the Tata-Telesat combine are also readying to enter India by 2022.
Both SpaceX and OneWeb plan to launch broadband from space services by next year.
The government directive comes at a time when the likes of Bharti-backed OneWeb, Musk’s SpaceX, Jeff Bezos-founded Amazon, and the Tata-Telesat combine are readying to enter India’s nascent broadband-from-space segment, leveraging on their respective global low-earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellations.
Read More: SpaceX satellite internet provider Starlink Debut in India by the end of 2021
