Starlink‘s satellite internet services, set to begin trials in India within six months, are unlikely to pose a significant threat to the country’s home broadband market due to pricing nearly 10 times higher than existing entry-level fiber-based plans, India Ratings & Research (Ind-Ra) said on Friday.
With expected monthly charges of Rs.3,000-3,500 and equipment costs of Rs.30,000-35,000, Starlink’s offering is aimed mainly at remote and underserved areas lacking reliable connectivity, rather than urban regions where fiber broadband plans start as low as Rs.399, the rating agency said in a report.
“The upcoming satellite internet services are not likely to pose an immediate threat to Indian telecom companies, since their home broadband internet services are more competitive in terms of pricing and bandwidth than Starlink’s expected offering in the urban areas having dense fiber connectivity,” said Priyanka Bansal, Associate Director, Corporates, Ind-Ra.
Starlink satellite internet promises availability of 99% or higher, which could improve quality and coverage in far-flung rural locations and mission-critical applications that generally have limited broadband access. However, in urban areas with dense fiber networks and competitive pricing, Starlink’s satellite service is considered a secondary option at best, Ind-Ra said.
The company’s direct-to-cell communication technology, currently limited to SMS with voice and data services still in testing, does not threaten India’s wireless mobility sector serving 1.2 billion subscribers. “These services do not threaten Indian telcos which serve around 1,200 million subscribers with 80% data penetration in India,” the ratings company added.
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Starlink may also face spectrum capacity challenges and will likely need partnerships with telcos for infrastructure support in direct-to-cell services.Starlink received a Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite license from the Department of Telecommunications in June 2025 and approval from the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre in July, valid till 2030. This makes it the third licensed satellite broadband provider in India after Bharti Enterprises-backed OneWeb and Reliance Jio-SES entity.Trial runs for Starlink’s satellite internet services in India are expected to commence within the next three to six months, supported by partnerships with Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio announced in March 2025.
As ET reported earlier, Jio, which is expected to enter the satcom space by the end of this year, had shown concerns about what it called low pricing of satcom spectrum by writing to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) in June over the sector regulator’s low spectrum pricing recommendations.
The DoT though has downplayed concerns raised by telcos, particularly Jio.
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