Starlink agrees with government’s data security rules: Company will soon complete license process, will provide satellite broadband services in India
SpaceX owner Elon Musk’s Starlink’s license process in India can now move forward soon. According to reports, satellite broadband company Starlink has agreed to meet the government’s data localization and security rules.
According to media reports, in a meeting with the Telecom Department, Starlink has agreed to the rules related to data localization and security for the satellite broadband services license, but the company has not yet filed the agreement.
The Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite Services (GMPCS) license is the first step towards setting up satellite internet. After which spectrum can be obtained for testing by paying a nominal application fee.
It is mandatory for satellite communication companies to keep all data in the country
According to the rules related to security, it is mandatory for satellite communication companies working in the country to keep all the data within the country. Starlink may also need to tell how intelligence agencies will get the data if needed.
Starlink applied for the license in October 2022
Starlink applied for this license in October 2022. After this, the company also applied for approval from the space regulator, Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Center (IN-SPACe). The application with IN-SPACe has also been moved forward, but additional details have been sought for final approval.
The Government of India will decide the rules for pricing and spectrum allocation
Satellite broadband services will start in India when the government decides the rules for pricing and spectrum allocation. This process can start only when the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) will issue its recommendations, which are expected to come by the end of December.
Indian companies will compete with global companies like Starlink
In the satellite services sector, Indian companies like Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone-Idea will compete with global companies like Amazon owner Jeff Bezos’ Kuiper and Musk’s Starlink.
In an open house session last week, representatives of the three Indian companies had said that only auctioned satellite spectrum should be used to provide satellite services to urban or retail consumers.
On the other hand, Starlink had said regarding this demand that telecom/ground services and satellite communications are theoretically different, so they should not be compared.
Spectrum should be allocated administratively instead of auction
Starlink India Director Pernil Urdhvaresh had said that if 5G mobile spectrum is shared among telecom companies, it should be allocated administratively instead of auction.
IN-SPACe estimates that the country’s space economy can grow to $44 billion by 2033 and its global market share can increase from the current 2% to around 8%.
