New Delhi
Elon Musk’s Starlink has officially received a Unified License to offer satellite internet services in India, Union Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia announced on Thursday. A framework for spectrum allocation and gateway setup is already in place, ensuring a smooth rollout of Starlink’s services. This announcement comes as India marks 30 years since its first mobile phone call in 1995.
Starlink joins other satellite internet players like Eutelsat OneWeb (backed by Bharti Group) and Jio SES, which are also awaiting spectrum clearance to begin their services.
Minister Scindia highlighted India’s remarkable digital progress under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership. With 1.2 billion telephone connections and 970 million internet users, the nation has seen a 1,450% surge in broadband usage since 2014. Mobile data costs have dropped by 96.6%, making India the most affordable market globally.
BSNL has also made a comeback, reporting net profits for two consecutive years. The company has installed over 83,000 4G sites, with 74,000 already live, using homegrown technology. AI tools and faster fault resolution have improved service quality.
India’s 5G rollout now covers 99.6% of districts, with over 4.74 lakh towers and 300 million users. The country has the highest per capita 5G usage at 32 GB per month and ranks among the top six nations for 6G patent filings.
Investments under the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme reached ₹4,305 crore, generating ₹85,391 crore in sales and creating 28,000 jobs. FDI in telecom nearly tripled to $710 million.
COAI's SP Kochhar noted India’s transformation into the world’s second-largest telecom market, now with 85% of the population enjoying 5G access.