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Elon Musk’s satellite broadband venture Starlink’s move to pre-book customers has come under the scanner as the company has not yet taken necessary licences to offer services. Besides, the Centre is yet to announce the policy for satellite communication services.
DoT receives complaints
Top officials at the Department of Telecom said that some complaints have been received from industry bodies and consumer groups against Starlink, and are being examined.
For instance, Delhi based NGO, Telecom Watchdog, wrote to the Department of Telecommunications on September 29, stating that Starlink asking customers to pay a deposit of ₹7,350 so that they could be served on a first come, first serve basis, is akin to a Ponzi scheme to defraud customers.
Sanjay Bhargava, Starlink Country Director India, Space X, said in a social-media post that it would be easier for them to get approvals from the government if they receive a high number of pre-bookings from customers in India. As of October 1, pre-orders in India have crossed 5,000 customers.
Telecom Watchdog lays out a litany of allegations against Starlink in its letter to the DoT. According to their letter, Starlink has not received licences so far, and has started collecting money without even an application for a licence.
Moreover, according to them, there is no guarantee/ provision for a refund provided by Starlink to its customers in India, which means customers will not get their money back in case Starlink is not granted the licences by the government.
‘Highly irregular’
Experts, however, believe that it is highly irregular for Starlink to approach customers before the licensing and policy regulations have gone through. BK Syngal, former Chairman and Managing Director of VSNL, told BusinessLine : “To approach a customer you need licensing under the Indian Telecom Act of 1885. Therefore, Starlink is not allowed to do this…..you cannot provide the service without the licence, therefore you can’t invoice customers.”
According to Syngal, a whole suite of issues need to be hashed out before Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite broadband services become available in India. This includes the debate around whether satellite spectrum should be auctioned, whether security concerns are addressed and so on.
Meanwhile, Bhargava is targeting a December 2022 activation of Starlink in India, with 200,000 terminals active in the country.
There are a number of other players waiting to jump into this segment. This includes Jeff Bezos’s Project Kuiper and Sunil Bharti Mittal-backed One Web.
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