Elon Musk's Starlink can give only 20 lakh connections, offer up to 200 Mbps speed pan-India. Know why
Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani, the Minister of State for Rural Development and Telecommunications, also said that the US-based satellite internet provider will be able to offer up to 200 Mbps of internet speed, which the government believes will not affect other telecom operators.
'Starlink can have only 20 lakh customers in India and offer up to 200 Mbps speed. That won't affect telecom services,' Minister Pemmasani told the news agency on the sidelines of a BSNL review meeting.
The company's satellite internet services are expected to target customers in the rural and remote areas of India, which is also a big market for the state-owned telecom service provider BSNL.
Minister Pemmasani also said that the upfront cost for the satcom service will be too high, and the monthly cost will likely be around ₹ 3,000.
According to the report, Pemmasani also said that BSNL's 4G network rollout is completed, and the government-owned telecom provider does not plan to increase its network tariffs at this time.
'We want market first. There are no tariff hikes planned,' the minister told the news agency.
According to the official website, the eStarlink network is the world's first and largest satellite internet provider. The technology uses Earth's lower orbit to deliver broadband (Wi-Fi) internet to its users.
People can use this broadband network to support streaming, online gaming, and video calling by accessing the satellite network through their home setup or portable Starlink equipment. Billionaire founder Elon Musk's space tech startup SpaceX owns and controls Starlink's operations worldwide.
Mint reported earlier that Starlink aims to address connectivity issues in rural and remote regions of India and expand the domestic telecom industry with its satellite technology.
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