Elon Musk's internet company Starlink has been approved by India: What does this mean? What services will you get? Explained

Starlink, a satellite internet company of billionaire Elon Musk, received a “letter of intent” from the Indian government's Telecommunications Department (DOT) on May 7, bringing the service closer to Indian customers. Mint was the first to report on the development.

Starlink is a subsidiary of Elon Musk's Rocket Company SpaceX, which includes a network of multiple satellites located in the Earth's atmosphere, working together to provide high-speed internet.

We broke down what this step towards Starlink is about entering India, what is next, and what the service might offer Indian customers.

What is Starlink? What does it do?

Starlink is a satellite internet service developed by SpaceX, a US aerospace manufacturer and space transport company established by Musk in 2002.

It uses satellite technology to provide high-speed, low-latency broadband internet worldwide. Unlike traditional satellite services that rely on distant geostationary satellites, Starlink uses the world's largest low-Earth orbit or Leo constellation satellite (550 kilometers on Earth).

This constellation of LEO satellites is now 7,000, but will eventually grow to over 40,000 – its grid provides broadband internet capable of supporting streaming, online gaming and video calls.

Built to endure extreme cold, heat, hail, heavy rain and even strong winds, Starlink can be kept in harsh and harsh weather conditions as well as remote terrain. It is particularly suitable for rural and underserved areas where traditional Internet models such as fiber or cable are unavailable or unreliable.

Starlink satellites communicate with ground stations and user terminals to deliver “broadband from the sky”.

In the process, Starlink requires barrier-free, clear field of view of the sky, and the user-side suite includes Starlink Dish, WiFi router/power, cable and dock.

Download speeds usually average between 50 and 150 Mbps, with an occasional peak of 200 Mbps. Most users have speeds above 100 Mbps. The delay is usually between 20 and 60 milliseconds and can support gaming and video calls.

Starlink has been in a craze for expansion, and its footprint is expanding to include parts of North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia, South America and Africa.

It often proves crucial in natural disasters and conflicts. A classic example is the strategic internet connection provided by Star Link to Ukraine and its military.

After the start of the conflict in 2022, Starlink became the virtual lifeline of Ukraine, providing vital internet access on its people and military internet when Russia destroys its communication services.

But as the United States became increasingly critical of Keefe's handling of the war, Musk announced that the Stars and Stripes were “the backbone of the Ukrainian army” and that “if I shut down their entire front, their entire front would collapse.”

SpaceX provides free access to its Starlink broadband services in 2024 to areas affected by Hurricanes Helene and Milton.

Today, Starlink Services Services has entered more than 100 countries and the company has been focusing on India's lucrative satellite broadband services market. According to the FICCI-EY report, India's space economy is expected to reach a staggering $44 billion by 2033 from US$8.4 billion in 2022 to 2033.

In the months leading up to Starlink’s separate agreement with Airtel and Jio, India’s communications sector (the world’s second largest) has become a virtual battlefield with telecom operators and satellite companies on how to approve SATCOM Spectrum.

The high-stakes game has led rivals Jio and Airtel to demand an auction to grant the scope of Indian satellite services as they fear administrative allocations would be lower than musk radios paid through past auctions to make the massive ground network pay.

During the Mobile India Conference (IMC), Sunil Bharti Mittal advocated the provision of bidding routes and “regular licensing processes” for SATCOM operators who want to serve urban areas and retail customers.

However, Telecom Minister Jyotiradiitya Scindia rejected the telecom company's demand for auction of SATCOM Spectrum, which clearly shows that the radiation of SATCOM will be distributed administratively, but not without costs.

The government also said that Starlink must comply with the specifications, tick all check boxes and comply with all safety parameters.

At the time, Musk thanked Scindia for disagreeing with the auction of satellite services in India Tycoons and said in an article on X that he was looking forward to serving the Indians.

Even until November 2024, Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel clashed with Starlink during an open-ended discussion in Trai – a marathon was engraved with the rules of the game of the Indian SATCOM market in six hours.

However, the harsh moments give way to the tranquil solution, and the painful rival quickly becomes a friendly friend.

In a surprising event in March, Bharti Airtel, and then within hours, Jio Platforms announced that they had signed a separate deal with SpaceX to bring Starlink's high-speed internet service to India and was approved by Musk's company for regulatory approval.

The business terms of the transaction are not yet clear.

According to a statement released by Airtel on March 11, Sunil Mittal-owned companies and SpaceX will explore opportunities to provide Starlink equipment at Airtel’s retail stores, connect communities, schools and health centers to commercial customers through Airtel’s Starlink Services, which Airtel offers to commercial customers through Airtel, and connect communities, schools and health centers, among others in the rural areas of India.

By leveraging Starlink (in addition to existing alliances with Eutelsat Oneweb, Airtel is expected to be able to further provide its national connectivity and connect previously underserved areas, especially those not subject to today’s lack of coverage.

A day later, Jio platform announced a similar agreement. Jio will offer Starlink Solutions through its retail stores as well as online stores.

In addition to providing Starlink devices at its retail stores, Jio will also establish a mechanism to support customer service installation and activation.

“In terms of data traffic and Starlink's position as the world's leading low-Earth orbit satellite constellation operator, both sides will leverage Jio's position as the world's largest mobile operator to provide reliable broadband services nationwide, including the most rural and remote areas of India,” Jio said in a March 12 press release.

Today, Starlink has more than 4 million subscribers worldwide, and is said to add thousands of subscribers a week. It works with T-Mobile to provide satellite coverage directly to cells on mobile phones, initially in remote areas where there is no mobile coverage in the United States.

The T-Mobile Starlink satellite is equivalent to a floating mobile tower in space and will allow satellite to battery service, allowing users to stay connected even in areas without traditional network coverage.

In addition to T-Mobile in the United States, Starlink has partnered with several global telecom companies: KDDI (Japan), Optus & Telstra (Australia), One NZ (New Zealand), Salt (Switzerland), Entel (Chile & Peru), Rogers (Rogers), Rogers (Canada) and Kyivstar (Ukraine).