Elon Musk's Starlink officially registers business in India; Rural areas to be priority

Elon Musk's satellite internet providing company 'Starlink' has officially registered its business in India, announced Sanjay Bhargava, the Starlink Country Director India at SpaceX on November 1. Taking to LinkedIn, Bhargava revealed that the company, named Starlink Satellite Communications Private Limited (SSCPL), now has a 100% owned subsidiary in India and can now apply for licenses and bank accounts in the country. His post read-

Pleased to share that SpaceX now has a 100% owned subsidiary in India, The name is SSCPL - Starlink Satellite Communications Private Limited and the incorporation date is Nov 1, 2021. Happy Birthday, SSCPL. We can now start applying for licenses, open bank accounts, etc.

Starlink's arrival in India

SpaceX considers India as one of the biggest potential markets and is looking to soon scale up its operations in India. As per the company's official filing, Starlink aims to establish the business of telecommunication in India by offering a wide range of services which, apart from satellite broadband, include content streaming and its storage along with multi-media communications.

Once licensed, SpaceX plans to initially focus on offering services to rural areas of India. Earlier, the company had announced that it will provide 100 Starlink hardware kits for free, which includes 20 for schools in Delhi and 80 for those in rural areas around the Indian capital. In a previous LinkedIn post, Bhargava had said, "We will probably focus on ten rural Lok Sabha constituencies for 80% of the Starlink terminals shipped to India." 

Apart from this, SpaceX will also identify 12 rural districts where three of them will be selected from northern, southern, eastern, and western parts of India for the internet services. Regarding India, SpaceX has set a goal of having 2,00,000 Starlink devices in the nation by the end of 2022, out of which 1,60,000 will be in rural communities.

Recently, company CEO Elon Musk praised Bhargava for his efforts, which he is putting in with his wife Anita Kapur Bhargava, for trying to bring the satellite internet services into the far-flung areas of India. Currently, the cost of subscribing to Starlink's services is roughly Rs. 7,400, but the users will be able to experience internet speeds up to 150 Mbps with a latency between 20 to 40 milliseconds. As of now, Starlink has marked its presence in the US, UK, Portugal, Chile, Canada, and Australia.

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