Starlink Moves Closer to India Launch, Agrees to Security Norms

Starlink, Elon Musk’s satellite internet company, is nearing its entry into the Indian market after agreeing to comply with the government’s data localization and security requirements, according to a report by MoneyControl.

Elon Musk’s Starlink Moves Closer to India Launch, Agrees to Security Norms

Starlink’s commitment comes after several meetings with the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), where the company agreed “in principle” to comply with some of the crucial guidelines that are needed for approval of a GMPCS (Global Mobile Personal Communications by Satellite) license. Although the compliance agreement has not formally been submitted by the company, this is indicative of Starlink nearing a launch in India.

The satellite communication companies are mandatorily expected to keep all the user data within India and provide government agencies with interception access to the data if required according to India’s data localization rules. Complying with these regulations is one of the most important criteria for getting the GMPCS license, which allows satellite internet firms to use trial spectrum and start operations in India.

Starlink applied for the GMPCS license in October last year and is currently undertaking further authorization processes through the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe). Earlier this year, the agency sought more information from both Starlink and Amazon’s Project Kuiper before advancing their applications to further stages. Pawan Kumar Goenka, who chairs the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Center (IN-SPACe), said both firms are answering queries from the regulator.

The development on Starlink comes as talks of a role in the administration of U.S. president-elect Donald Trump are swirling around Elon Musk, which could further bolster Starlink’s influence worldwide as it looks to grow its satellite internet business — including in India.

All that is then left for Starlink to launch in India is the government finalization of pricing and spectrum allocation guidelines for satellite broadband services. Further information regarding these issues is awaited soon, and if it does get sorted out then Starlink will be just a step away from providing services to Indian customers.

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