Elon Musk’s Starlink gets satcom licence from the telecom department

Elon Musk’s Starlink gets satcom licence from the telecom department

Elon Musk's Starlink has received its Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite (GMPCS) licence from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), having fulfilled all security compliance requirements outlined in its letter of intent (LoI), a top government official told Moneycontrol on June 6.

With this, Starlink becomes the third satcom company to get a GMPCS licence after Eutelsat's OneWeb and Reliance Jio to provide services in the country.

The official said that Starlink will get a trial spectrum in next two weeks.

Moneycontrol reported on June 5 that Starlink will receive its GMPCS within this month. SpaceX will now need approval from the Indian space regulator, In-SPACe, to authorise Starlink’s services. Sources said Starlink had already submitted the necessary security-related requirements to meet the new licence conditions and had given undertakings on other guidelines.

This key step will accelerate the launch of Starlink’s high-speed satellite broadband services in India. Following the In-SPACe clearance, the company will receive a provisional spectrum allocation.

Starlink, which plans to have three gateways in India, had been waiting for a licence for three to four years.

The government thoroughly vetted SpaceX’s Starlink and mandated strict security measures, such as implementing lawful interception capabilities and establishing a local command and control centre.

“They will still need to complete several procedural steps, including setting up gateways, a Network Operations Centre, and ensuring lawful interception capabilities. It will take at least nine months before they can begin commercial satellite communication services in India,” a source told Moneycontrol.

A query sent to SpaceX didn't elicit any response.

Amazon Kuiper, on the other hand, will have to wait longer. The Dot is still processing its application even though it has fulfilled all the security and operational conditions required to get the licence. Kuiper’s application will be discussed during the next inter-ministerial standing committee meeting.

Kuiper plans to build significant satcom capacity in India, with plans for 10 gateways and two points of presence in Mumbai and Chennai, compared to Starlink’s three gateways. Eutelsat-OneWeb and Jio-SES each have two gateways.

Kuiper, which has launched 27 satellites as part of its Project Kuiper to provide broadband services globally, still lacks coverage in India.

The Starlink licence comes when the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) reviews pricing recommendations from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), which have drawn intense criticism from Indian telecom operators.

In a letter dated May 29 to DoT secretary Neeraj Mittal, industry body COAI—representing Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea—raised objections to TRAI’s proposal to levy a 4 percent adjusted gross revenue (AGR) charge on satellite spectrum.

COAI urged the government to revisit the pricing model, arguing that traditional telecom players pay significantly higher upfront fees through spectrum auctions. The body said this results in their total payments to the government being roughly 21 percent higher than what satellite providers would pay under TRAI’s suggested framework.