Elon Musk-Owned SpaceX Applies For DoT Licence But Here’s Why It’s Still A Long Way For Starlink To Launch In India
Last year,the government warned citizens to not buy Elon Musk’s Starlink Internet Services In India as it was not licensed in the country. The Department of Telecommunications also forced Elon Musk-Owned SpaceX to refund money to Indian consumers as the company has to “get a licence before offering Satellite-based services.”
After almost a year now, SpaceX has reportedly applied to DoT for a Global Mobile Personal Communication by satellite services (GMPCS) to launch the Starlink internet services from space, according to a report by The Economic Times.
The report by The Economic Times quoted an official who confirmed this development. However, neither SpaceX nor the government officially have confirmed the same.
Applying for a licence appears to be an initial step for Starlink as it still has a long way to go. The report citing DoT officials said, “Getting a GMPCS licence does not mean that SpaceX can soon start services.” SpaceX will need approval from the Department of Space and after that get “spectrum allocated for offering services.”
The company will also have to develop earth stations in India and deploy its global satellite bandwidth capacity in India. “These clearances will have to come from the Indian National Space Promotion & Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe),” it added.
While Elon Musk-Owned SpaceX launching Starlink internet in India sounds cool, what you should be knowing is that it is not the only company preparing to offer internet from space services.
The “broadband-from-space services” segment is said to be a $13 billion market by 2025. Apart from SpaceX, other companies like Amazon, Telesat, Nelco (Tata Group), OneWeb and Jio are also looking at launching services in India.
As of now, only two other companies have applied for the licence along with SpaceX.
According to the report, “Nelco and Telesat have done a proof of concept (PoC) but since the constellation is not ready yet, they have not applied for a licence.”
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