Elon Musk says Starlink to serve rural India: Why its launch faces delays

Elon Musk, the billionaire entrepreneur behind the Starlink satellite communications company, announced on August 21 that Starlink would aim to provide internet connectivity to rural areas in India. Despite securing the necessary licenses and approvals, the service is currently awaiting formal launch, a year after obtaining the required government permissions.

Musk emphasized that Starlink would primarily benefit the least served population in India, particularly in rural regions. Other operators, including Bharti-backed Eutelsat OneWeb, Jio Satellite Communications Ltd, and Amazon Leo owned by Jeff Bezos, have also received the necessary authorizations to launch satellite communication services in the country.

The delay in Starlink's launch in India is due to concerns over security, as the government is yet to give the final approval. The main worry revolves around foreign satellite operators potentially bypassing Indian gateways, which would result in the government losing control over the service. In satellite communication, Indian gateways refer to satellite earth station gateways located within Indian territory that facilitate communication between space-based satellite constellations and domestic terrestrial telecom networks.

Satellite communication services rely on a network of satellites orbiting the Earth to provide connectivity to homes and businesses on the ground, offering an alternative to terrestrial networks like cable, fibre, or digital subscriber line. Starlink operates the world's largest satellite constellation with approximately 7,000 satellites in orbit.

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) released guidelines for satellite communication companies in May, which include setting up local manufacturing, data localization, using domestic navigation systems, implementing a blocking mechanism, and cooperating with law enforcement agencies. Additionally, satellite communication companies must share a year-wise phased manufacturing plan to achieve at least 20% indigenisation of their ground segment within five years of launching commercial operations.

They are also required to ensure the use of NavIC-based positioning systems in their user terminals and provide real-time monitoring to prevent user traffic from being routed through external gateways. Companies must submit an undertaking to not copy and decrypt Indian telecom data outside India, and implement service restrictions during hostilities.