After a wait of three years, Elon Musk's satellite internet company Starlink has received its Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite (GMPCS) licence from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT). It becomes the third satcom operator after Eutelsat’s OneWeb and Reliance Jio to secure the licence to provide services in India.
According to Moneycontrol, the GMPCS licence was granted after Starlink met all security compliance requirements outlined in its letter of intent (LoI). The portal cited a senior DoT official as saying that Musk’s company is expected to receive trial spectrum within the next two weeks.
With this licence, Starlink is one step closer to launching its satellite broadband services in India. It now awaits final approval from the Indian space regulator, In-SPACe. As per the report, the company has already submitted the necessary security documents and given undertakings to meet the new licence conditions. Once cleared by In-SPACe, Starlink is expected to receive a provisional spectrum allocation—paving the way for its rollout.
Starlink plans to set up three ground gateways in India and has been pursuing a licence for the past three to four years. By comparison, Eutelsat-OneWeb and Jio-SES each operate two gateways in the country.
Amazon’s Kuiper Project Will Have to Wait
While Starlink moves ahead, Amazon’s Project Kuiper remains stuck in regulatory limbo. Despite reportedly fulfilling all security and operational requirements, the Department of Telecommunications is still reviewing its application. The matter is reportedly expected to be taken up in the next meeting of the inter-ministerial standing committee.
Amazon plans to build significant satellite communication infrastructure in India, including 10 gateways and two points of presence in Mumbai and Chennai. Although the company has launched 27 satellites under Project Kuiper, it has yet to achieve coverage in India.
Starlink’s progress comes at a time when the DoT is reviewing pricing recommendations made by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)—proposals that have drawn sharp criticism from Indian telecom operators.
