The terrestrial system of communication or the mobile services will remain for at least next 10 years even though satellite communications (Satcom) like Starlink have come in , which will be expensive as of now.

When it comes to tariff rates right now Starlink has to look for affordable rates for the Indian market because unlike other markets, India is quite price sensitive and will not be able to afford it at current rates.

Otherwise, the government will have to work out some subsidies to provide Satcom services to the remote areas, AK Bhatt, Director General, Indian Space Association (ISpA) told businessline.

“The bigger story is, will Satcom replace terrestrial communication as an alternative in the next 10 years? That is a big no because there are two developments taking place in parallel – one is, direct-to-device is becoming more closer to the users because users want ubiquitous communication so all companies are developing that...Secondly, for any Satcom player to become competitive with the terrestrial players, it requires them to really change the model of business,” he said.

Bhatt’s comments came after reports of Starlink, which recently received the initial licence from the Indian government for its operations, indicates an initial upfront payment of around ₹30,000 for the hardware and a monthly fee of around ₹1,000 for unlimited data. For corporates or business houses, the internet plans could be much more expensive than these rates.

“Nobody will buy (at such rates), not even a so called high net worth individual (HNI)...For India, why do you have to subsidise it, why you have to operate Satcom? That is to overcome the digital divide because the games are much more indirect. So, that will have to be done in some form by the government,” he noted.

As of today, Starlink is not providing services in India, but at any cost if it has to capture the market, it will be ready to do it because Elon Musk, has a long term plan, Bhatt said.

“Ultimately, it is numbers (users) which will offset it. But, despite that he (Musk) cannot replace the terrestrial market as of now,” he said adding that Satcom services are much more expensive because it is expensive to put these satellites in the sky and they need to be serviced or recycled every five years.

On June 6, the Elon Musk-owned Starlink received the Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite (GMPCS) licence from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), which is a crucial permit to start commercial operations in India.

The company will be granted spectrum for trials in the next few days.

Starlink is the third operator to get the GMPCS licence, after Bharti (Airtel)-backed Eutelsat Oneweb and Mukesh Ambani-owned Jio Satellite Communication. All three of them will be competing in this new space of communication in India. The fourth player, Amazon’s Kuiper is still awaiting approvals from the DoT.

Published on June 15, 2025