India is a diverse country where internet is vulnerable in many rural areas. New technologies like Satellite Internet have the capacity to reach even remote places. Starlink developed by Elon Musk’s spaceX promises internet connectivity to the most vulnerable places around the world.
What Is Starlink?
SpaceX, a company founded by Elon Musk, introduced a new technology called Starlink. Starlink refers to the internet connectivity through satellite. Unlike the traditional internet services which works on optical fibre cables, this new technology uses satellite orbiting around the earth. Due to this, Starlink is more feasible option for rural areas. Laying cables all around is impractical and hefty task. However, Starlink promises to provide fast internet speed ranging around 50 mbps to 150 mbps which suitable for streaming, video conferencing and gaming etc.
In India
Starlink’s launch in India has been delayed due to the regulatory challenges in India. However, the company has been offering the beta services in selected areas since 2020. TRAI has already started planning to implement the new satellite internet technology in India. TRAI along with various telecom companies started discussing the rules for the upcoming satellite internet. Airtel, JIO’s SES, Amazon’s Kuiper are in the race to bring the satellite internet. These companies have been asked to share their inputs within a week. However, Amazon has requested for additional time till January.
Regulatory authorities and the telecom department have been planing for the spectrum allocation expected to be finalised around 15 December. According to the reports, Indian government is planning to launch the satellite internet by next year. The companies like spaceX are eager to enter the market, but in India, these sector faces several challenges such as allocation issues, regulatory reforms and high costs.
