Elon Musk's company SpaceX is preparing to provide high-speed internet service in India through its Starlink satellite. For this, Elon Musk's SpaceX has started talks with the Department of Telecom.
Starlink will soon apply to the Department of Telecommunications for the Global Mobile Personal Communications by Satellite Services (GMPCS) permit. Musk's move will put him in front of Bharti Airtel's OneWeb and Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio Infocomm. With this, Elon Musk will give tough competition to Airtel and Reliance Jio in the field of high-speed satellite internet.
The satellite internet market in India is estimated to reach $13 billion by the year 2025. Starlink will be the third company after OneWeb and Jio Infocomm to apply for this permit. A GMPCS permit is required for launching high-speed internet service through Low Earth Orbit Satellites in the country. SpaceX also plans to get approval from the Department of Telecom for setting up a local gateway.
Stopped from taking pre-orders Nearly a year ago, the Telecom Ministry barred the Indian arm of SpaceX from taking over 5,000 pre-orders for its satellite broadband services. The reason for this was that the company did not have an operating license.