Elon Musk’s Starlink secures ‘crucial’ approval to start its India operations

Elon Musk’s Starlink has reportedly cleared a significant regulatory barrier for its entry into the Indian market. According to a report by The Economic Times, the company has obtained a Letter of Intent (LoI) for a license from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to provide satellite internet in the country. The report said that this progress comes after Starlink agreed to a revised set of conditions.Citing an official familiar with the matter, ET reported that the LoI for grant of Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite (GMPCS) permit comes after Musk’s company complied with the security conditions issued on Monday (May 5).Starlink's acceptance of the newly released security conditions, a step crucial for its India entry, followed a significant development: the government opted to exclude two proposed rules that Starlink had refused to accept during earlier discussions. Sources familiar with the matter told the publication that Starlink was particularly hesitant about requirements related to special monitoring zones near borders and the mandatory majority Indian shareholding for satellite communication firms.The government ultimately dropped these specific clauses from the final security guidelines. Regarding border monitoring, the initial proposal included zones 10 km across and 50 km within the international border. Starlink had reportedly stated it could not monitor users outside India's territory. The DoT removed the 10 km “across border” rule, citing its inconsistency with the Telegraph Act, but kept the 50 km "within border" requirement. The proposed majority Indian shareholding rule was also removed, as the DoT determined that foreign investment should be regulated under existing FDI policy, which allows up to 100% FDI in telecom subject to certain conditions Starlink had already agreed to meet. The exclusion of these contested rules smoothed the path for Starlink to obtain its GMPCS license.The path forward includes securing approval from space regulator IN-SPACe, followed by potential test spectrum allocation and ultimately, commercial spectrum allocation from DoT, a process also awaited by competitors like Eutelsat OneWeb and Jio-SES. With the nod, Starlink will soon join satcom permit holders Bharti Group-backed OneWeb Eutelsat and Jio-SES. Startlink will likely offer mobility services along with the GMPCS licence while Eutelsat OneWeb and Jio-SES will have to seek the permission separately.The updated security framework, applicable to all market entrants and existing players, includes stringent measures covering data localisation, tracking, and potential local manufacturing commitments, all within a burgeoning Indian space economy projected for substantial growth.