Elon Musk’s Starlink to Offer Broadband Services in 32 Countries, soon to Inaugurate in India

Starlink is a satellite internet constellation being constructed by American manufacturer SpaceX. The constellation consists of a set of interconnected satellites in low Earth orbit to provide broadband internet access. With this mechanism, the information travels through a vacuum space 47% faster than any traditional fiber-optic internet connection. It is expected to offer a high download speed of 100 Mb/s and 200 Mb/s, with low latency of 20 milliseconds or less.

SpaceX launched Starlink Satellite Services in November 2019 with a $99 per month beta program plan for selected customers. In 2021, SpaceX applied for regulatory approval in India to provide satellite-based broadband services in the country. The company has a subsidiary in India, Starlink satellite Communications Private Limited and is already in the process of setting up ground infrastructures such as gateways and user terminals. SpaceX has so far launched over 1,900 satellites for the Starlink constellation.

SpaceX plans to operate 12,000 satellites at 540 to 570 kilometers in altitude, making it the largest satellite. Recently, Starlink announced that it would be inaugurating its services in 32 countries, with India being one of them. The company has not yet disclosed the pricing for the Indian market.

The service is expected to go live by mid-2022. Starlink's main competitors in the global broadband market are Safran Cabin, Astra, Boeing, United Launch Alliance, Blue Origin, etc. The company shared the news via Twitter along with a map showing the service availability across the globe. This service has covered its services in most parts of Europe and North America. As per the map South America, Australia, and New Zealand will get immediate access to satellite-based internet services.

Start link Scope in India :

India is not listed under the immediate availability list, but the country is marked in blue color, indicating coming soon. The company received pre-orders from India in the last year, but it was paused the last year with the government warning to take the licensing before starting the operations.

It is to be noted that India has around 749 million internet users as of 2020, which is growing at a rate of 9%. The country's digital infrastructure investments are also on the rise with the government initiatives like Digital India and Smart Cities Mission. However, only 37% of the population has access to broadband speeds of 4Mbps or more.

The government's recent proposal to allow private companies to set up their own space infrastructure is also a welcoming step for companies like SpaceX & Tesla. With this, India can hope for better and fast internet services in the coming years.