Elon Musk’s SpaceX does not have the license to offer broadband internet services in India, said Ministry of Communication on Friday. It asked citizens not to subscribe to the service
The Department of Telecom (DoT) issued an advisory asking citizens not to subscribe Elon Musk’s satellite broadband service in India. SpaceX’s satellite broadband arm Starlink is not licensed in India to offer satellite-based internet services in India and stands barred to offer any such services in the country, it said.
The DoT has also asked the billionaire’s internet-from-space company to comply with the regulatory framework for offering the service in India and stop booking or rendering the internet service in India “with immediate effect”.
The department said it noticed that Starlink has started pre-selling the service in India as is evident from its website as well wherein satellite-based internet services can be booked by users in Indian territory.
SpaceX has been accepting orders for the beta version of the service for a fully refundable deposit of $99 or Rs 7,400.
“The Department of Telecommunications Ministry of Communications, Government of India has pointed out that Starlink Internet Services is not licensed to offer satellite-based internet services in India being advertised to the public… the government, (accordingly), has asked the company to comply with the Indian regulatory framework for rendering satellite-based communication services and refrain from booking/ rendering such services in India with immediate effect,” said Ministry of Communications in a statement issued Friday.
It was in September when Musk last publicly spoke about India plans for Starlink. While responding to a question on Twitter, the SpaceX founder said he is figuring out the regulatory process in India. “Just figuring out the regulatory approval process,” he wrote.
On Friday, the government told Indian citizens not to avail any service from the company as it does not have the requisite license.
“The Government has asked the company to comply with the Indian regulatory framework for rendering the satellite-based communication services and refrain from booking/rendering the satellite internet services in India with immediate effect. Given the fact that Starlink is not a licensee, the public is advised not to subscribe to Starlink services being advertised,” the Ministry further said.
Starlink India director Sanjay Bhargava said last month announced on LinkedIn that the company has successfully registered its India subsidiary —Starlink Satellite Communications Private Limited. “Pleased to share that SpaceX now has a 100% owned subsidiary in India.”
The company plans to roll out services across 200,000 active terminals in more than 160,000 districts by 2022.
Musk had recently claimed that Starlink will have the capability to transfer data at the speed of light. At present, the Starlink network relies on a dish, satellites and ground stations, GizmoChina reported. The company wants to get rid of these ground stations that have proved to be a hindrance for fast data transfers due to the long time they take to communicate with the satellites.
