With India granting regulatory approvals to Elon Musk-led Starlink for satellite communication services, the government is now said to be preparing to allocate spectrum for satellite operators on a first-come, first-served basis.
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is reportedly in the final stages of drafting the guidelines for spectrum allocation. According to The Hindu Businessline, the guidelines are expected to be finalised within the next four to six weeks.
The move comes after India’s space regulator, INSPACe, granted a five-year licence earlier this month to Starlink to operate its Low Earth Orbit (LEO) Starlink Gen1 constellation in the country. The 4,408-satellite constellation, orbiting between 540 km and 570 km, is capable of delivering around 600 Gbps throughput over India.
Starlink’s approval follows similar licences awarded to Jio Satellite Communications and Eutelsat OneWeb.
None of these players can begin commercial services until spectrum is allocated, a process currently awaiting finalisation after the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) submitted its recommendations on pricing and allocation norms.
Starlink, which had been eyeing the Indian market since 2022, has also signed agreements with telecom giants Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel to support its India plans.