Elon Musk’s satellite internet service Starlink will be able to provide only 20 lakh connections across India and is not expected to disrupt the country’s telecom sector, according to Union Minister of State for Telecom Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar.
Speaking on Monday during a review meeting of BSNL, the minister said, “Starlink can have only 20 lakh customers in India and offer up to 200 Mbps speed. That won’t affect telecom services.” He explained that the satcom services, which use low Earth orbit satellites to deliver high-speed internet, will mainly target remote and rural areas.
The minister also mentioned that the cost of Starlink’s services would be high, with users possibly paying around ₹3000 per month. Due to this pricing and its limited customer capacity, Starlink is unlikely to pose a serious challenge to existing telecom companies, including government-run BSNL. He added that BSNL has completed the rollout of its 49 network and currently has no plans to increase tariffs, focusing instead on market expansion.
Starlink received the necessary regulatory clearance from the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) earlier this month to begin its satellite-based internet operations in India. In June, the company was granted licences to offer Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite services, Very Small Aperture Terminal services and Internet Service Provider Category-A services.
With this approval, Starlink becomes the third player to enter the satellite internet space in India after OneWeb and Jio. To launch its services in the country, Starlink has partnered with both Airtel and Jio, leveraging their dealer networks for service distribution.
The company had been waiting for approval since 2022, facing delays due to concerns related to national security. Now with all permissions in place, Starlink is set to bring high-speed satellite internet to underserved regions, but its limited scale means mainstream telecom services will remain unaffected.
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