Elon Musk’s Starlink May Face More Delay In Kicking Off Satcom Services In India

Elon Musk’s satellite internet business Starlink is likely to face more delay in obtaining its license for launching satcom services in India as the department of telecommunications (DoT) is seeking clarity from the department for promotion of industry & internal trade (DPIIT) on mandatory ownership disclosure details. 

In 2020, DPIIT amended the foreign investment policy and mandated prior approval by the government on declaration of the complete shareholding details especially, in case of investment from countries which share borders with India. 

Thus, the DoT is seeking advice from DPIIT on whether approvals can be given to SpaceX on the basis of the available declaration or complete declaration is needed to issue the global mobile personal communication by satellite services (GMPCS) licence. 

However, Starlink refused to disclose the full shareholding details of its parent SpaceX. 

As per ET’s report, citing officials close to the matter, the company said that it is unlisted and on this ground the US privacy laws prohibit a full disclosure of such details. 

The report further said, “SpaceX has only given a declaration that none of its investors are from countries which share a land border with India.”

The sources cited above added that the company has requested the ministry to accept this information to grant the approval for GMPCS licence.

This comes days after the Parliament passed the Telecommunication Bill 2023, which opted for allocation of satellite communication (satcom) licences via administrative route, exempting satcom players from bidding for the licence. This came as a big blow for the telecom giant Reliance Jio, which batted for auction-based allocation of spectrum. 

Currently, Bharti Group-backed OneWeb and Jio Satellite Communications, which operates in a joint venture with Luxembourg-based SES, have the satcom licence.

Starlink applied for the DoT licence in 2022 to bring satellite-based broadband to India. It expected to enter India soon after a high-level meeting was reportedly held between the company officials and the government authorities in September 2023. 

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