Starlink India Launch Moves Closer After Satcom Spectrum Approval

Satellite internet in India just took a meaningful step forward. According to multiple reports, the Digital Communications Commission (DCC) - the top decision-making body within the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) - has signed off on the bulk of the recommendations put forward by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on how satellite spectrum should be priced and allocated. With this approval in place, the government now has a clearer path toward handing out spectrum to satellite communication companies looking to operate commercially in the country.

Prominent publications have reported that the DCC signed off on TRAI's proposals last week. The next step is for the DoT to carry the matter to the Cabinet for final sign-off. Even so, companies eyeing India's satcom market - including Starlink, Amazon's Leo, Reliance's Jio Satellite Communications, and Eutelsat OneWeb - will still need security clearances before they can actually switch on services.

What the new spectrum framework looks like

Under the terms reportedly approved, satellite operators will pay a spectrum usage charge equal to 5 percent of their adjusted gross revenue (AGR). That rate drops to 4 percent for companies focusing on rural and remote coverage. This decision arrives almost eight months after TRAI responded, back in December, to a set of follow-up questions the DoT had raised about its satellite spectrum proposals - proposals that TRAI had first put forward in May of last year.

TRAI's original pitch was somewhat different. It had suggested a flat 4 percent AGR charge, plus an extra annual fee of ₹500 per urban subscriber for non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) satellite services, while sparing rural and remote users from that additional cost. TRAI also proposed that the 4 percent AGR charge, applicable to both geostationary (GSO) and non-geostationary operators, come with a floor of ₹3,500 per MHz annually. During the public consultation process, both Starlink and Amazon's Kuiper Systems pushed back, asking regulators to cap the spectrum charge at under 1 percent of AGR with no additional fees layered on top.

The DoT, however, didn't accept every part of TRAI's plan. It turned down the idea of a separate per-subscriber levy, arguing that reliably telling rural users apart from urban ones would be a practical headache. It also declined a proposal to use the Digital Bharat Nidhi fund to subsidise fixed satellite terminals for people in rural and underserved regions - even though TRAI had pointed out that the upfront hardware cost, typically ranging between ₹20,000 and ₹50,000, could otherwise keep the technology out of reach for many.

What's still hindering the way

Clearing the spectrum framework is only part of the puzzle. Security clearance remains a major hurdle for any company hoping to go live commercially. Licence holders under the Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite category still need to get through security demonstrations and satisfy concerns raised by the Ministry of Home Affairs and other government agencies.

Even after approval, the scale of what satellite internet can realistically offer in cities remains limited. Reports suggest that a single satellite constellation might support only 10,000 to 20,000 connections in a city like Delhi, compared with the roughly 50 lakh broadband connections already in use there. That's largely because satcom services such as Starlink are designed for regions where laying fibre-optic cable is impractical and mobile towers are few and far between - not for crowded urban centres. These low-earth orbit systems are built to deliver fast, low-latency internet specifically in sparsely populated areas.

Starlink also carries an added complication tied to its ownership structure, which involves 100 percent foreign direct investment. The company has separately gone back to India's space regulator, IN-SPACe, seeking clearance for its Gen 2 satellite constellation - a network of nearly 30,000 low-earth-orbit satellites that would include direct-to-device functionality. Elon Musk himself has kept up his public interest in bringing the service to India, writing on X last month, "Starlink would help the least served in India, especially in rural areas."

For now, India's satellite broadband market remains limited to geostationary players like Hughes and Nelco, which currently pay spectrum charges in the range of 3 to 4 percent of AGR.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kahekashan

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Kahekashan is a passionate technophile with a keen eye for cutting-edge gadgets, emerging technologies, and everything in the digital realm. Raised in a Defence family with strong values and a background in literature, she has consistently pursued excellence in every endeavour. Her last full-time assignment involved content writing with the Indian School of Business.

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