Majority of Starlink Users Based in Rural Areas, Company Focused on Expanding Satcom Access in India News24 –
A significant proportion of Starlink users are rural residents, said Parnil Urdhwareshe, Director, Starlink Satellite Communications, on Wednesday. He also stated that the company is now preparing to equip Indians with satellite communications.
“We are right now just focused on being ready to provide Indians with that option (satellite communication services). In-SPACe, DoT, TRAI, etc. are all working to make Satcom available to users,” the Starlink executive said at the India Mobile Congress 2025.
“We’re working with the industry that has built India’s broadband story and learning from them. We hope to expand their networks or work with the government to extend telecom services to Indians who are not yet connected,” Urdhwareshe added.
As per sources, in roughly two months, everybody should have rules for the allocation of spectrum for satellite communication services. These rules are the last mile the Elon Musk-led Starlink, Bharti Group-backed Eutelsat OneWeb, and Jio SES, can apply for radio waves and start their services.
The executive mentioned that Satcom delivers high-speed connectivity and efficient broadband to places long deemed too difficult to be serviced via terrestrial networks. “The goal has always been to complement existing services. A very large percentage of Starlink users are those who live in rural areas. And a very large number of them had Starlink as their first provider of high-speed broadband. Satcom is not new, but historically there have been limitations with respect to capacity, reliability, and accessibility,” Urdhwareshe said.
“At Starlink, we wish to remove all limitations. We wish to provide users with a great internet experience,” he reiterated, explaining that the actual number of users Starlink can serve in metro Mumbai is one-tenth of the number of users it can serve in rural parts of states.
Last month, Starlink received provisional spectrum clearance to commence satellite broadband trial services in India from the Department of Telecommunications, putting the company one step closer to a commercial launch. With the trial spectrum awarded, Starlink will build its ground infrastructure and begin security compliance tests. The company aims to build base stations in 10 locations, with a hub in Mumbai.
Starlink has also applied for an import license to bring in equipment, including landing station equipment, for setting up its ground station in India, and has outsourced the responsibility of building the gateways to a few firms including Equinix.