Musk's Starlink Receives Unified Licence to Launch Satellite Internet Services in India
The minister also highlighted India's extraordinary digital transformation over the last 11 years under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership
New Delhi: Union telecommunication minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Thursday has confirmed that Elon Musk-owned Starlink has received a unified licence to launch satellite internet services in India, with a framework for spectrum allocation already in place. The announcement of the minister came on its 30th anniversary of the first cellular call made in India in 1995.
“The frameworks for spectrum allocation and gateway establishment are ready, ensuring smooth rollout,” Scindia said in a statement. Along with Starlink, Bharti Group-backed Eutelsat OneWeb and Jio SES are also awaiting spectrum allocation to roll out their satcom services.
The minister also highlighted India's extraordinary digital transformation over the last 11 years under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership. “From remote villages to bustling cities, digital access has empowered citizens, bridged divides, and made India a global leader in affordable, inclusive technology,” he said.
Scindia also shared some key statistics in the telecom sector, saying that telephone connections in the country now stand at 1.2 billion, and Internet subscriptions have surged by nearly 286 per cent to reach 970 million. “From remote villages to bustling cities, digital access has empowered citizens, bridged divides, and made India a global leader in affordable, inclusive technology,” he said.
“Broadband usage has seen explosive growth of over 1,450 per cent, rising from 60 million in 2014 to 944 million today. Most notably, the cost of mobile data has plummeted by 96.6 per cent, positioning India as the global leader in affordable data at just Rs 8.9 per GB,” he added.
Scindia also said the revival of BSNL has been a major breakthrough. “For the first time in 18 years, BSNL reported back-to-back net profits of Rs 262 crore and Rs 280 crore in FY 2024-25. Over 83,000 4G sites have been installed, with 74,000 already operational, all built on indigenously developed technology. Crack teams, AI-powered monitoring, and fibre fault resolution within 12 hours have raised service standards across the board,” the minister said.
He also said that India’s rapid 5-G rollout has covered 99.6 percent of districts, with 4.74 lakh 5G towers and 300 million users. “With the world’s highest per capita 5G usage (32 GB per month) and 100 use case labs in place, India is also among the top six countries in 6G patent filings,” he said.
“Investments under the production linked incentive scheme have touched Rs 4,305 crore, resulting in Rs 85,391 crore in sales and over 28,000 jobs. Foreign direct investment has nearly tripled from $282 million to $710 million,” he added.