If Kenya can, India can too

TARLINK, a fully owned subsidiary of Elon Musk's SpaceX, still has a long way to go before it can start its satellite broadband service in India, even though it has crossed two significant hurdles: one, it has tied up with foes-turned-friends Reliance Jio and Airtel; and two, it has the Indian government's backing on administrative allocation of spectrum, which was a key demand.

- SHYAMAL MAJUMDAR

The remaining hurdles, however, are equally daunting. Satellite telecom service cannot take off in India unless a policy is framed. For instance, the regulator is yet to recommend a spectrum-pricing formula. Further, when the spectrum will be available to the players is not known. Security clearance is another loose end. Among the conditions being reported in the media are mandatory local control centres and storage of data in India. There is also a proposal to make Starlink go into rural and remote areas initially, while preventing it from accessing the urban subscriber base. However, that will be a big mistake. Here's why.

Satellite telecom offers promise to significantly transform the landscape of internet connectivity by reaching the remotest areas, which have remained broadband-deprived thus far. According to Statista, as of February 2025, India had over 651 million people without internet connection. China ranked second, with around 311.9 million. These are the target groups for whom internet connectivity can be transformed with networks like Starlink, driving advancements in education, the economy, and social inclusion through high-speed, low-latency access.

India has over 1.17 billion telecom subscribers and urban teledensity is roughly 130%, but the rural teledensity is around 60%. Which means India does have a huge unserved market for high-speed connectivity. Starlink has thousands of small satellites in low Earth orbit which send super-fast internet straight down to anyone with a dish. More importantly, it works anywhere: deserts, forests, war zones, oceans—places where regular internet doesn't exist.