Musk's Starlink agrees to India's data localization demand – reports

Elon Musk's Starlink has, in principle, accepted the Indian government's data localization and security demands, according to a Moneycontrol report. This was one of the key reasons for the delay in SpaceX, the parent company of Starlink, acquiring the Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite Services (GMPCS) license required to offer satellite-based broadband in the country. 

Reliance Jio's Jio Satellite Communications and Eutelsat OneWeb, in which Bharti Enterprises is the biggest shareholder, have acquired a GMPCS license. Starlink applied in 2022 but is yet to be granted one. Now, with its reported "in-principle" acceptance of India's data localization rules, it is likely to get a GMPCS license soon.

Starlink has also applied for authorization from the space regulator, the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe). The regulator has requested additional details from Starlink.

This comes in the wake of Musk playing a significant role in US President-elect Donald Trump's election campaign. He is also expected to play an important role in the Trump administration, which could indirectly help Starlink's global expansion plans. 

Recently, Musk's plans for India receieved a boost, with Telecommunications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia saying that the government would administratively allocate the spectrum required for satcom services. This was not in line with the demand of the telcos, including Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea, who wanted the spectrum to be auctioned.

Starlink started pre-booking orders in India way back in 2021 before acquiring the required approvals. This was followed by the Indian administration asking people to refrain from subscribing to Starlink's services. It also asked Starlink to refund the fees collected from subscribers as a pre-booking amount.

Starlink services are available in several countries, including the US, Mongolia, Nigeria, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Germany, France and the UK, among others. With over 650 million yet-to-be-connected people, India has the largest unconnected population in the world. A significant part of it is in rural or hard-to-reach areas. Satellite-based communication is likely to play a significant role in connecting this segment.

However, Starlink's tariffs may end up being too high for India. For instance, a Starlink connection at London Bridge in London costs £75 ($95.5) per month and £299 ($381) for hardware, including congestion charges. In Nigeria, where Starlink is currently not accepting residential orders, a business connection is priced at 38,000 Nigerian Naira ($22.67) per month for service and NGN590,000 ($353) for hardware.

Cellular connectivity is available at much cheaper rates in most parts of the country. In addition, the top two telcos, Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel, are aggressively pushing fixed wireless access (FWA), which is likely to compete with satcom services.