Elon Musk's satellite company Starlink may soon get India's approval to start service

Elon Musk's satellite company Starlink may soon get licence from telecom ministry to start service in India, reported Times of India. As per the report, the company has been stuck with the home ministry over security reasons for months now.

The report further mentioned that the Telecom Ministry is expected to hold a meeting later this month to discuss the proposal of Starlink for a global mobile personal communication by satellite (GMPCS) services license which is likely to be passed. 

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However, before launching its operations in India, Starlink would need to get approvals from several government wings and the space ministry. 

The Telecom Ministry in 2021, reprimanded Starlink for taking advance orders for its devices in India without having a license. Over 5,000 subscribers had placed their pre-orders costing about $99 each. The ministry had also instructed the company to refund the money collected. 

Currently, India has given the GMPCS licence to only Mukesh Ambani's Jio and Sunil Mittal-backed One Web. Reuters in June reported that Starlink is lobbying India not to auction the satellite broadband spectrum and just assign licences in line with a global trend. However, Reliance had called for an auction in a public submission to the Centre.