SpaceX will focus on 10 Rural LS Constituencies for 80% of Starlink Terminals Shipped to India: India Head

Sanjay Bhargava, India Head, SpaceX, said that Starlink will focus on 10 Lok Sabha constituencies; it will also put 80% of the terminals shipped to India there.

10 Constituencies, 80% of Starlink Terminals

In a LinkedIn post, Bhargava said, "In October I am also keen to have 30-minute virtual conversations with MP's, Ministers, secretaries to GOI, or principal secretaries to states to see if they think 100% broadband would help improve lives".

"We will probably focus on ten rural Lok Sabha constituencies for 80% of the Starlink terminals shipped to India. The number of preorders from rural constituencies will be one factor that helps us select focus constituencies," he added.

He also said that SpaceX will apply with the Indian government soon to get a license for Starlink. In another post, Bhargava had said that the government approval process remains a complex challenge; SpaceX hopes for a fast approval for its pilot program before a pan-India launch approval.

The company also will aim to reach 200,000 active terminals by December 2022. Bhargava told that there have been more than 5,000 pre-orders from India already. SpaceX has further urged its customers to register first to get into a "priority list".

Given India's problems with delivering connectivity across the country, experts have seen the country as a key market; industry experts have pegged India as an $1 billion annual market opportunity in the short term. Since nearly four-fifths of rural India still doesn't have broadband access, government has been looking at satcom as an viable alternative.

Therefore, Starlink is doing everything it can to capture early customers, given that OneWeb, Amazon and Nelco are preparing fast to enter India’s satcom space, using their respective LEO satellite constellations.