Centre Cracks Whip on Satcom Security, New Mandates for Startlink, Jio and Others

The Department of Telecommunications has strengthened security requirements for satcom permits to provide services in India, mandating additional conditions such as website blocking, metadata collection, establishment of a local data centre, ensuring provisions for NavIC-based positioning systems and committing to phased manufacturing localisation.

The move comes as Starlink’s application for a satellite-services licence remains unresolved, with the company struggling to meet existing security standards.

The Provisions

Under the new framework, all satellite operators must implement measures for website blocking, metadata collection and lawful surveillance, among other requirements.

This will directly affect existing licence holders such as Bharti Enterprises-backed Eutelsat OneWeb, Reliance-backed Jio-SES, Elon Musk-owned Starlink and Amazon Kuiper, all of which have applied for licences.

The new regulations also mandate that satcom operators verify their user terminals using authentication methods, and unregistered or foreign devices will only access services within the country after completing a registration process.

The new security norms read: “The service providers shall provide real-time location data/tracking of user terminals (fixed and mobile) anywhere within Indian territory as and when required by designated LEAs/security agencies. This includes sharing of latitude-longitude details of user terminals as and when required on (a) a real-time basis.”

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) further stated that the licencee must submit an undertaking ensuring that Indian telecom data will not be duplicated or decrypted outside the country.

Additionally, the new rules mandate that the network must be capable of terminating service when a mobile user terminal moves from an authorised area to a prohibited region.

In addition to these requirements, the DoT has specified that permit holders must maintain a 50 km special surveillance zone along the international border.

There are currently 29–30 specific security standards that all companies providing satcom services in the country must comply with.

The DoT issued the new security criteria following discussions with all four stakeholders. The government has imposed stringent conditions due to the national-security environment, particularly in light of ongoing concerns regarding China and Pakistan, as well as the introduction of new technology.