Musk’s Starlink satellite internet services can soon begin to benefit Indian users

Starlink which is available in nearly 32 countries all across the world can soon come to India. According to the recent report by the New Indian Express, officials close to the matter revealed that the DoT officials are likely to meet on September 20, 2023, to decide on awarding the Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite (GMPCS) license to Starlink to operate in the country. Starlink applied for the license last year that will grant permission to offer satellite communication in the licensed areas.

Starlink keen to start its operation in India began taking pre-orders in 2021 even before it secured a license. However later it had to refund money to people after DoT warned the company against taking orders before receiving a licence.

After Airtel-backed OneWeb and Jio’s satellite arm, Jio Space Technology, Starlink is the third company to apply for this license. After receiving this license Starlink will require the satellite spectrum from DoT’s wireless planning and coordination.

As per the statement made by the officials to the New Indian Express, they are also looking forward to bringing OTT communication apps like WhatApps, Signal, and Telegram into the licensing regime. This step would ensure safety in the future because “If these OTT players are under the licensing regime, they are obliged to follow government directions. In case of any incidents like in Nuh or Manipur, we could have directed these apps to stop their services without having to disconnect entire internet services,” the official said.