Musk’s Starlink All Set to Launch in India: Will It Be Affordable, and Who Will Be Impacted?

 

                                   Satellite Internet Elon Musk, Starlink, ElonMusk

Synopsis

Satellite Internet: India is getting ready for fast internet from space! TRAI is making rules so Starlink can start by June 2025. Elon Musk wants to bring Starlink and Tesla cars to India. Pretty much a lot of private internet service provider companies would get competition and pressure to provide their version of satellite-based high-speed internet service, on SpaceX’s Starlink mainstream.

Key Highlights: 

• India is preparing for satellite internet services with TRAI working on a rollout framework.
• Starlink is expected to launch by June 2025, competing with Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel.
• Tesla’s Plans for India - India’s 110% import tax has delayed Tesla’s entry. 
• A new policy lowers tariffs to 15% for companies investing $500M in local factories.
• Tesla has started hiring and leased its first showroom in Mumbai.
• Starlink is complying with Indian security regulations to get its operating license.
• The government mandates local data storage and national security access.
• Starlink seeks some flexibility but is under review by Indian authorities.

Elon Musk’s Starlink Internet in India

India is getting ready to launch satellite internet services as the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) prepares a framework for its rollout. If everything goes as planned, the Starlink services, no doubt, start by June 2025. This will bring intense competition between Starlink, Reliance Jio, and Bharti Airtel over spectrum allocation and pricing.

Musk’s Growing Interest in India

Elon Musk has a global reach, but India is one market he has not fully entered yet. Despite his growing international business and his influence in the U.S. government, his special debut in Satellite Internet to India is getting materialized sooner than expected. The Tech giant is interested in launching both  Starlink satellite internet and Tesla electric cars in India.

Musk had a special meeting in Washington, on Satellite Agenda with  Prime Minister  Narendra Modi on his US trip. They talked about working together on new ideas, space travel, smart computers, and ways to help the Earth.

Read More Updates: How to Afford Starlink in India? Unlimited Data Cost Rs.3,000/Month, Receiver Kit Rs.33K - Spl Offer Any?

Starlink Satellite Overview

Starlink is a satellite broadband internet system being implemented worldwide by Elon Musk's SpaceX company. The goal is to provide direct internet access via satellites to isolated, rural, underdeveloped, mountainous, and oceanic areas. Starlink service is currently available in more than 100 countries. It has started service in India's neighboring country of Bhutan. The process is in the final stages in Bangladesh and Myanmar. The government has not permitted it in India.

Will Starlink, which has signed a satellite internet distribution agreement with two of the country's leading telecom companies in a matter of hours, have an easy time in India? Even though the two opposing companies have come together as partners, things may not be so easy for Starlink in India. It remains to be seen whether the high cost of Starlink satellite internet will be acceptable to Indians who are looking for cheap prices for everything. Or will it have to capture the market by giving free data, like Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio did in the telecom sector.

Communication is through satellites launched in the closest orbit to Earth. So far, Elon Musk's SpaceX has installed 7,000 satellites for this purpose. Musk says that the network will be upgraded with new technology in five years. Since it is closer to Earth, the signals will be faster, more reliable, and more accurate. A dish antenna and router are required to receive the signals. This will allow direct communication with the nearest satellite. It requires less energy to operate. Currently, the design is designed to be used in a fixed location. If some additional components are added, it can be used in vehicles, boats, and airplanes. This will be the most suitable system for video conferencing and other purposes.

Service in India

There are still obstacles. The government has not given permission for satellite internet. SpaceX has only signed distribution agreements with Indian companies. They can only distribute if the government permits them to provide Starlink service. Reports say that the distribution agreements with Airtel and Jio are nothing new. Starlink service is provided by partnering with major mobile service companies worldwide.

Challenges

The main challenge is the high operating cost. In isolated locations, a dish antenna and a router are required to communicate with the satellite. The price starts from $300. That is, it comes to around Rs 26,000. Although the cost will come down as the number of connections increases, it will affect operational efficiency. In addition, there will be a monthly fee. In Bhutan, the fee ranges from Rs 3,000 to Rs 4,200. Broadband service is currently available in the country at much lower rates. According to the Ericsson Mobility report, the average monthly revenue of telecom companies in India from a customer is only Rs 172.57. Indians use up to 32 GB of data on average. The company has not made an official announcement regarding the rates and services in India.

How does billionaire Mukesh Ambani's telecom venture Jio benefit from Elon Musk's Starlink Internet?

This question cannot be predictably answered right now. However, it can be simply said that Jio is unlikely to directly benefit from Elon Musk’s Starlink internet.

Starlink is more of a competitor to Jio than a partner. Starlink Internet could compete with Jio’s fiber and broadband services, especially in remote and rural areas. Because laying cables is tough in remote areas.

No doubt, Starlink has its challenges such as high costs, technical hurdles, and political curbs in  India.

Satellite internet needs powerful ground equipment, which may not be affordable for many in rural India. On the other hand, building enough ground stations to support large numbers of users is expensive.

For now, Jio’s focus on building affordable broadband and mobile networks in India gives it an advantage. 

Let us hope that Jio will keep creating jobs and investing heavily within the country, which also helps the local economy. So, while Starlink might bring some competition, it is unlikely to replace or seriously disrupt Jio’s internet business anytime soon.

Tesla’s Plans for India

So far, India’s high import tariffs on electric vehicles (110%) have kept Tesla from entering the market. But Musk has promised that Tesla will come to India “as soon as humanly possible.” After meeting with Modi, he seems eager to make it happen.

Tesla has already started hiring in Mumbai and Delhi and signed a lease for its first showroom in Mumbai. The Indian government has also introduced a new scheme that reduces import tariffs to 15% if companies invest at least $500 million in setting up a local factory. This offer is only for the first 8,000 cars, but Tesla might try to change that.

If Tesla builds a factory in India, it will help the economy by creating jobs and bringing in money from other countries. But no one knows for sure if Musk will go through with it.

Last year, he canceled a planned India visit at the last minute and instead went to China, where he secured a major business deal.

Starlink Gets Closer to Indian Market

Musk’s satellite internet company, Starlink, is now one step closer to launching in India. The company has agreed to follow key security rules set by the Indian government to obtain its operating license.

Starlink Accepts India’s Security Rules

To operate in India, Starlink must follow strict security and data storage regulations. One major requirement is that all user data must be stored within India. Additionally, Starlink must allow intelligence agencies to access its network when required for national security.

Starlink has asked for some flexibility on certain conditions, which it plans to fulfill gradually after getting its license. The Ministry of Home Affairs and other security agencies are currently reviewing its application.

No Special Treatment for Foreign Companies

The Indian government has made it clear that no special exceptions will be given to foreign companies like Starlink or Amazon’s Kuiper. Meanwhile, TRAI is finalizing how satellite spectrum will be allocated and priced. Industry experts now forecast that satellite internet will be all set in India by the end of 2025.

What is TRAI's Role in It?

TRAI has a new idea! They want to combine two old licenses, GMPCS and VSAT, into one new license called "Satellite-based Telecommunication Service Authorization." This will help make things simpler.

Also, the government (DoT) is making new rules for phone and internet services.

Big telecom companies like Reliance Jio want the government to sell space signals (spectrum) through an auction. They worry that satellite internet, like Starlink, might take their customers in cities and create unfair competition.

However, the Indian government prefers an administrative allocation method, citing technical reasons unique to satellite communications.

Elon Musk's Starlink vs. Mukesh Ambani's Jio

As for now for India, the Jio of Mukesh Ambani is the biggest internet provider, with more than 14 million subscribers using its broadband and also about 500 million using mobile internet. Coming second, Airtel also has nearly 300 million users.

But now, Jio and Airtel are worried! They have spent over $20 billion to buy network space, but Elon Musk's Starlink could take away their customers. Why? Because Starlink uses satellites to provide the internet, which means people can get fast internet even in remote places!

Starlink’s Pricing vs. Indian Broadband

Satellite internet is significantly more expensive than regular broadband in India. Here’s a price comparison:

• Starlink Monthly Plan: $10 - $500 (Rs. 800 - Rs. 41,000)
• Indian Broadband Plans: $5 - $7 (Rs. 400 - Rs. 600) per month
• Starlink One-time Hardware Cost: $250 - $380 (Rs. 20,000 - Rs. 31,000)

Right now, Starlink is not a big problem for Jio and Airtel. Most of their money comes from mobile networks, not home internet. Also, Starlink’s internet is slower and has limits on how much data people can use, while Jio and Airtel give unlimited data at faster speeds. If Starlink wants to do well in India, it needs to make its prices much cheaper.

Amazon’s Kuiper is even slower. It has not asked for permission to work in India yet because it hasn’t launched its satellites.

Still, experts think that in the future, both Starlink and Kuiper can help bring the internet to villages and faraway places where normal internet does not work.

With Starlink agreeing to India’s security and data rules, satellite internet services are opening at India's Doorstep. However, pricing and regulatory challenges still need to be resolved. As the government finalizes its policies, competition between Starlink, Kuiper, and Indian telecom providers will determine the future of internet access in India.

Who are the most likely to benefit from the launch of SpaceX's Starlink?

Pretty much a lot of private internet/network service provider companies would get competition and pressure to provide their version of satellite-based high-speed internet service, on SpaceX’s Starlink mainstream. They won’t be out of business necessarily any time soon though.

But if SpaceX gets serious about providing Space Communication Technologies to Federal/DoD entities as well, a lot of federal research labs and DoD contractors would get hurt and lose their long-term SATCOM projects. Because SpaceX is more likely would provide faster, cheaper, and more efficient communication technologies to the military.

But SpaceX mostly might stay out of that rat race to serve the military because there are way too many defense labs, contractors, subcontractors, etc., who have their interest and would be a collective barrier. They will all try to keep/win their bid. It would become a political war and not worth it for SpaceX in the long run.

In DoD/Government’s eyes, SpaceX could be a valuable candidate to bring faster wireless SATCOM communication services to the warfighters, whether SpaceX serves the purpose or not is a whole different aspect.

Will Musk's surgical strike on Jio and Airtel, Indian Starlink succeed?

It has been five years since Starlink, which is capable of providing high-speed internet directly from satellites even in places where cable broadband or even a 2G connection could not be dreamed of, arrived at the country's doorstep. It has been a long time since the stage was set for opening India's skies to Starlink. 

As the complaints and controversies related to the satellite internet sector continue, the twist has taken place in the past few weeks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the US and discussions with Elon Musk, the owner of Starlink and Tesla. Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio, who complained that the central government's move to give satellite spectrum without even an auction was for Starlink, have signed agreements with Starlink. 

Airtel with OneWeb and Jio with Space Fiber are in the satellite internet sector. Yet, within 24 hours, they forgot all the troubles and joined hands. The fact that Jio and Airtel, which control nearly 70 percent of the country's broadband internet sector and have made great strides in satellite internet trials and approvals, have made such a big splash has become a major public debate.

Currently, internet data reaches our phones or computers through cables, mobile phone networks, or through some means such as Wi-Fi. Our experience is that only when all these basic facilities are in place can we receive internet data without any interruption. 

However, satellite broadband provides high-speed internet directly from artificial satellites without the help of any "middlemen". It would be clearer if we say that it is like providing television channels through DTH. If you have a kit consisting of a small dish antenna and a receiver, you can get the net anywhere on Earth. As technology improves, sometimes even that is not needed. The same in the snowy mountains of the Himalayas and the Thar Desert.

Starlink provides internet to Earth from a group of satellites (Satellite Constellation) orbiting above 550 km. All that is needed to receive data signals from Starlink satellites is a 50 cm long dish antenna and a smaller Wi-Fi router. In the case of Starlink, only equipment that is not even the size of a DTH system is needed. 

Starlink dish antennas on the ground will establish communication links with suitable satellites. At regular intervals, they will search for the most suitable satellite in this network. Thus, internet connectivity will be ensured from the fastest, lowest latency satellite. Starlink promises speeds of at least 100 megabytes per second. Once this technology becomes commonplace, high-speed internet will be available even on fast-moving planes and ships. SpaceX has announced that Starlink currently has more than 7,000 satellites and that it will reach 42,000 in the near future.

Starlink vs Fiber and Wireless: Which Internet is Best for India

• Starlink Satellite Internet: Reaching Far Places
• Starlink sends internet from satellites in the sky. It helps people in villages and mountains where other internet can't reach.
• Speed: Slow (25-150 Mbps)
• Weather Impact: Rain or clouds can make it stop working sometimes
• Places: Great for villages and faraway places
• Price: Very costly! Plus, you need to buy a big dish
• Fiber Broadband: Super Fast and Strong
• Fiber uses special cables under the ground. It is fast and steady.
• Speed: Very fast (250 Mbps to 1 Gbps)
• Weather Issues: Almost none, works even when it rains
• Places: Only in cities or towns with fiber cables
• Price: Cheaper than Starlink, and setup is mostly free
• Wireless Broadband: Easy and Cheap
• Wireless comes from towers, like your phone's internet (4G/5G).
• Speed: Changes with 4G or 5G
• Weather Issues: Works in rain, but towers far away can make it slow
• Places: Where towers are near
• Price: Cheapest! Just use a SIM card.