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As Starlink gears up for its India entry, the Elon Musk-owned satellite communication (satcom) operator is reportedly looking to price its monthly subscriptions in the range of INR 3,000 to INR 4,200.
Citing sources, Business Standard reported that Starlink kits (which includes a satellite dish and a Wi-Fi router) are expected to cost a steep INR 33,000 in the country.
The satcom operator’s hardware will be available at retail outlets of telcos Airtel and Reliance Jio. The two telecom operators struck separate deals to distribute the satcom company’s equipment and services in India.
As per the report, the US-based firm’s pricing strategy in India will be similar to other nations in the subcontinent like Bangladesh and Bhutan, where Starlink commenced operations in May and February, respectively. However, the monthly plans for India may cost slightly more than those in underdeveloped African countries like Zimbabwe and Madagascar.
The report added that Starlink’s pricing strategy in the country will be dictated by capacity constraints and global costs despite India’s large market size. The sources said that the company does not have much to gain by lowering prices to attract more customers, adding that the offering will remain a premium service given the capacity constraints of the company as it may be able to cater to only about 1 Mn connections in the short to medium term.
This is largely in line with what Jefferies said in a note in February this year. The brokerage firm noted that Starlink’s current capacity may be able to support 0.18 Mn subscribers in India, which could grow to 5.7 Mn users by 2030, assuming a 30X rise in capacity.
Starlink’s India Tryst
Starlink currently offers services in more than 125 countries through its constellation of over 7,600 low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites. The company reportedly plans to deploy up to 12,000 satellites to complete the constellation.
This comes a month after Starlink reportedly received a Letter of Intent (LoI) from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to operate satellite-based internet services in India. It also received a key approval from the telecom ministry to kick off services in the country just days ago.
Alongside, the Elon Musk-led company has been looking to sign partnerships with domestic telecom and satcom giants such as Hughes, Tata Group-led Nelco, and state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) to expand its India presence.
Nevertheless, regulatory troubles continue to loom over the company. Last month, the telecom department issued a new set of 29 stringent security conditions for acquiring satcom licences including requirements for real-time terminal tracking, local data processing, legal interception capabilities, and localisation. Starlink is said to have agreed to these mandates.
Not just this, the government also recently set up a satcom monitoring facility with an outlay of INR 900 Cr as global satcom players make a beeline to enter the Indian market.
Besides Starlink, Amazon-backed Project Kuiper has also sought LoI to offer satcom services in the country. The company reportedly plans to set up 10 gateways and two points of presence in Chennai and Mumbai.
Then, there is Apple vendor Globalstar, which, too, has sought approval from the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) to launch services in the country.
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