Starlink India stops taking pre-bookings after DoT issues advisory

After the DoT issued a public advisory against pre-ordering Elon Musk's Starlink India, the company has since then retracted the offer. Earlier, the company offered a pre-order of the service for $99.

Starlink India Hits A Snag

Last week, the Ministry of Communications issued a public advisory, asking users to not pre-order Starlink connections. Reportedly, the DoT had asked Starlink a while ago to stop offering pre-orders and to comply with the regulatory framework. A senior official at DoT said, "we had already sent a letter to Starlink that they have to adhere to the Indian regulatory regime, and cannot pre-book services without having a valid license". However, Starlink did not take measures immediately, and hence DoT issued a public advisory.

It said, "The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has pointed out that Starlink Internet Services is not licensed to offer satellite-based internet services in India being advertised... the government, (accordingly), has asked the company to comply with the Indian regulatory framework for rendering satellite-based communications services and refrain from booking/rendering such services in India with immediate effect".

Furthermore, the DoT also requested the public to refrain from going for the pre-order. It said, "given the fact that Starlink is not a licensee, the public is advised not to subscribe to Starlink services being advertised". Incidentally, the DoT had told Starlink India to take down the pre-order offer a while ago. However, even after asking "categorically" the latter had not taken the offer down, which forced DoT's hand. As of now, the Starlink website in India has posted a message informing of its unavailability in India.

For now, the satcom company has applied for starting pilot services. However, that license still won't allow it to charge users for its services. For providing paid services, Starlink India needs a Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite or GMPCS license. It has started the process for the same, but so far, it has not received approval.

Starlink has earmarked India as one of its largest markets and has plans to invest heavily in the country. It will install over 2 lakh ground bases, for starters. Starlink though, faces OneWeb, and other satcom players vying for a share of India's nascent satcom market.