Elon Musk’s satellite internet company, Starlink, has received a key licence from India’s Department of Telecommunications (DoT), bringing it a big step closer to launching its services in the country.
Starlink becomes the third company to get this approval, after Eutelsat OneWeb and Jio Satellite Communications. Another major player, Amazon’s Project Kuiper, is still waiting for its licence.
According to sources from the DoT, Starlink plans to begin offering services in India within the next 12 months. The company is expected to provide around 600 to 700 Gbps (gigabits per second) of internet bandwidth across the country.
The pricing for Starlink in India hasn’t been announced yet. However, back in 2022, the company’s former India head, Sanjay Bhargava, had said the service could cost about ₹1.58 lakh for the first year. From the second year, this might reduce to around ₹1.15 lakh.
Currently, Starlink is available in over 100 countries, offering both residential and roaming internet plans. In many of these places, there are two options for home users: Residential Lite (for small households with lighter usage) and Residential (for larger families or heavier internet needs).
Interestingly, Starlink’s pricing varies around the world. For example, Zambia is one of the cheapest places to get the service, while the US is among the most expensive.
With its upcoming launch in India, Starlink could play a major role in improving internet access in remote and rural areas, offering high-speed connections from space.
