TL; DR
- Currently, Starlink is the third company to have obtained a GMPCS license after OneWeb and Reliance Jio.
- Before Starlink is commercially available, it also requires approval from the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Center (IN-SPACe).
- Per the report, Starlink will be provided with a trial spectrum in the next 14 days, which will help the company test its systems and ensure operational compliance with the security parameters.
Early in May, we reported that Elon Musk’s Starlink had received a Letter of Intent (LoI) from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), indicating that the regulatory authority could grant the required licenses and permissions for the company to commence operations in India. According to a report from Money Control, Starlink has obtained the Global Mobile Personal Communications by Satellite (GMPCS) license.
Starlink Becomes The Third Company To Get The GMPCS License
Currently, Starlink is the third company to have obtained a GMPCS license after OneWeb and Reliance Jio. Amazon’s Project Kuiper is still awaiting its GMPCS license. To receive the aforementioned license, the company must have fulfilled all the stringent security conditions put forward by the government, including real-time terminal tracking, local data processing, and sourcing 20% of the ground infrastructure from the Indian market.
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What Follows For Starlink: Trial Spectrum Allocation, IN-SPACe Approval, And Commercial Launch In Early 2026
Before Starlink is commercially available, it also requires approval from the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Center (IN-SPACe), which includes permission to operate the satellite within the Indian geographic territory. Per the report, Starlink has already started making efforts in that direction.
Per the report, Starlink will be provided with a trial spectrum in the next 14 days, which will help the company test its systems and ensure operational compliance with the security parameters. However, the final allocation of the commercial spectrum is pending since the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is still in the process of determining the pricing and terms under the guidance of the DoT.
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In addition, it could take the company at least nine months to launch commercially. This time could go toward setting up the required ground infrastructure, including gateways, a network operations center, and other supporting equipment. By that estimate, Starlink could launch its satellite-based internet services in India by the first quarter of 2026.
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