Amazon's Project Kuiper seeks rapid approval to enter India's satellite internet market, following Starlink. LEO constellations will dramatically increase India's data transfer capabilities. Competition heats up!
Trai proposes 4% AGR levy for satcom firms like Starlink in India, higher than desired. Jio and Airtel fear competition. Satellites aim to connect underserved areas, crucial for disaster relief.
India imposes stricter security norms for satcom licenses, impacting Starlink, OneWeb, Jio-SES, and Amazon Kuiper. Data localization, NavIC integration, and phased manufacturing are now mandatory for national security.
Starlink plans India expansion, partnering to reach underserved areas. Faces regulatory hurdles but setting up infrastructure. Focus on partnerships, direct services, and regulatory approvals.
New Delhi: Elon Musk’s Starlink has hit back against Indian telecom operators’ demand that only auctioned satellite spectrum should be used to service urban or retail consumers, terming it “self-serving at the cost of underserved users”.
Whether these enhancements will represent enough of a return on investment to appeal to SAR crews, compared to traditional sat phones—which are extremely robust, work with existing systems, and primarily require omnidirectional antennas for on-the-move operations—remains an open question.
