Starlink to begin India licensing process by Jan-22

Starlink, the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite broadband provider backed by Elon Musk’s SpaceX venture, is now planning to apply for licences to operate in India after being rebuked by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) last month. The Economic Times cites Sanjay Bhargava, the head of Starlink’s Indian operations, as saying that the firm will apply for its commercial licences by 31 January 2022. However, the official went on to warn customers that ‘there are currently unknowns on when you may get your Starlink’, having previously stated that it was aiming for a commercial launch in 2022. As previously reported by CommsUpdate, in November this year the DoT ordered Starlink to stop taking pre-orders, as the company does not have the necessary authorisations to offer the services for which it was taking bookings. Prior to the order Starlink had charged interested customers USD99 to pre-order a Starlink connection and the company claimed to have taken more than 5,000 bookings by that date.