[Noctis]

Originally Posted by Bhodrolok

It would also mean an alternate option when our Babus and politicians suddenly decide that internet should be stopped for the masses.

Unfortunately I don't see much change here if the service is provided through Airtel and Jio. Probably also why it's taking time for regulatory approval.

[Maverick_4662]

This is fantastic news. I had installed starlink on one of our ships and must say that the service is crazy good. I was getting about 800Mbps literally in the middle of the pacific which is unbelievable. Also the monthly rates were cheaper and the antenna was a fraction of the size of the older VSAT system. Only issue were that many nations including India had not given permission for it, meaning it would disconnect automatically. That should be solved given this news.

[kushagra452]

This is great news for non state actors and miscreants. The monthly subscription fees for Starlink services will most likely be out of reach for the common man. Those who can afford Starlink already have wired/wireless services in metro and Tier 1/2/3 towns.

The GoI seems to be rolling out the red carpet to the new and updated US deep state. Misuse of satellite internet services in India is only a matter of time.

[Rakmo]

Originally Posted by amolpol

At the price point of more than 100 $/mth that they sell in the US, it would be interesting to see how many people will sign up for this. Unless they find a way to subsidise it for India and run at 1000 INR/mth which is still considered as a premium connection by most people today.

It's not going to 100 USD/month in India for sure. Starlink does revises their pricing based on country to country. i.e. in Kenya they charge 10 USD/Month and in other African countries from 30-50 USD range.

[minzanurag]

Originally Posted by kushagra452

This is great news for non state actors and miscreants. The monthly subscription fees for Starlink services will most likely be out of reach for the common man. Those who can afford Starlink already have wired/wireless services in metro and Tier 1/2/3 towns.

The GoI seems to be rolling out the red carpet to the new and updated US deep state. Misuse of satellite internet services in India is only a matter of time.

If I am not mistaken certain Garmin handheld devices with satellite communication features are banned in India as "the Indian Wireless Telegraphy Act of 1933 prohibits the possession of wireless telegraphy apparatus, including devices with integrated satellite transmitters, without a license..." .

Now, does that mean
- Only vetted folks/orgs would be able to avail the services
- Or, would the laws be changed to accommodate Starlink subscribers
- Or, does Starlink equipment fall outside the purview of this rule?

[ssjr0498]

Haha! Exactly my thoughts! Allow the service and "yenjai" the show, get unlimited access to data and allow the "uncommon" man more food on the table to make a full "blown" meal!

Originally Posted by kushagra452

This is great news for non state actors and miscreants. The monthly subscription fees for Starlink services will most likely be out of reach for the common man. Those who can afford Starlink already have wired/wireless services in metro and Tier 1/2/3 towns.

The GoI seems to be rolling out the red carpet to the new and updated US deep state. Misuse of satellite internet services in India is only a matter of time.

[PreludeSH]

Originally Posted by Maverick_4662

This is fantastic news. I had installed starlink on one of our ships and must say that the service is crazy good. I was getting about 800Mbps literally in the middle of the pacific which is unbelievable. Also the monthly rates were cheaper and the antenna was a fraction of the size of the older VSAT system. Only issue were that many nations including India had not given permission for it, meaning it would disconnect automatically. That should be solved given this news.

You get more throughput because you would be the only user in that particular cell. In urban areas, it would also suffer from trees, buildings, rain etc

Would be great for our rural areas if its affordable and the govt comes up with some framework so that they can control what goes on it

[Bluengel180]

Originally Posted by Bhodrolok

This is great!

It would also mean an alternate option when our Babus and politicians suddenly decide that internet should be stopped for the masses. Price it within 2k per month and will gladly take it as a secondary connection.

Heck we have the highest number of internet shutdowns across the globe over all sorts of "reasons".

Musk bends to governments very easily. Don't expect starlink to be any different from incumbent providers. It will shut off access to regions when the goverment wants it to.

[turbo_delight]

Originally Posted by Bluengel180

Musk bends to governments very easily. Don't expect starlink to be any different from incumbent providers. It will shut off access to regions when the goverment wants it to.

This time govt bent in front of Musk. The photo of Indian govt with all its dignitaries on one side, and Musk with his kids, nannys on other side, was a statement in itself.
He should have been banned for making mockey of "Vishwa gurus" but has been allowed a grand entrance.

Anyways, on a business note, Tesla is facing slowdown in sales worldwide. So, Musk wants more places where he can expand all his businesses, using Trump, and sell more of his products.

Getting Starlink/Tesla into India is one such measure. Just to give you an user base estimate:
Jio has 46 crore subscribers in India.
Airtel around 20 crores in India.
Starlink has 50 lakhs worldwide.

Why Airtel/Jio with such huge user base allow a US based company to share profit with, until unless forced ?

[Sohail_91]

According to media reports, Starlink's pricing in India is expected to be significantly higher than traditional fiber broadband connections.

Source

[am1m]

Originally Posted by turbo_delight

Why Airtel/Jio with such huge user base allow a US based company to share profit with, until unless forced ?

Could be some degree of that. But outside of the big cities, I've seen that in several places Airtel and Jio don't seem to have a presence. Either because the number of potential subscribers don't warrant an investment in fiber infra, support staff, etc. Or because the terrain just doesn't make it practical, will cause frequent disruptions. Or because like the cable TV operators of the old days, one local goon/politician has a monopoly on 'cable Internet' services in such areas. Satellite broadband may be a way to gain some ground in such places? Just speculating.

But if these are really the potential costs:

Originally Posted by Sohail_91

According to media reports, Starlink's pricing in India is expected to be significantly higher than traditional fiber broadband connections.

Then who the heck is going to opt for it?! Could be 'planted' stories in the media too. Get people of the mindset that Starlink is very expensive even before, so they will not bother to check when it finally comes around.

That tactic is surprisingly effective. I've seen it happen with one local new service vendor (not Internet though). The rival vendors spread the word that the new player was very expensive, even I thought they were, till I actually spoke to the vendor and they expressed their frustration that that was the perception when their rates were actually much lower!

Or it could be that both Airtel and Jio understand that it's better to get some share of the potential pie than miss out to competition. Now when I get bad service with Airtel, I threaten to switch to Jio and that does wonders, my issue gets solved miraculously. Unfortunately Jio is as bad when it comes to customer service. Wish we had another major player at the national level. Competition always benefits the consumer (real competition, not crony capitalism.) Now that Starlink when/if it eventually comes is still through these two 'stellar' providers, I don't think it will really be a competitive alternative. Let's see.

[LeoSam]

I was very Happy when I heard Starlink is coming to India. But when it was announced that Airtel and Jio will partner with Starlink, the happiness was shortlived. We need more players which will create competition and in turn benefit the customer. This partnership will be certainly Indianised in terms of pricing and service and in end we may not enjoy the benefit of Starlink service which is offered in other countries. We need to wait and watch!

[ritedhawan]

Consider this, Starlink did to unguided media of sending signals what other unguided media options like getting access to internet via mobile towers did not: Bridge the latency gap, speed is the other factor that it bridged vis-a-vis guided media like Optic Fiber of the FTH (Fiber to the Home ) type.

Also, take it for granted that the onerous , cumbersome, time-consuming , slow task of laying fiber cables will take ages before the wild, bogy scheme of covering each and every corner of the country with fiber comes true. Well, with Starlink no such provisioning of cables is requires. Thier dish and thier equipment and the dish pulls the signal from those low-orbit satellites which relay internet connection.

Additionally, as you start moving away from heavily congested cities, the cost benefit of laying a fiber cable for low density areas becomes minuscule. ISP's know this and they are also aware of the impossibility of laying optic fiber cables across the length and breath of our country.Better those low density homes go for something which is offered by starlink only if they are really serious about internet speeds and latency, and most importantly can afford it. Otherwise go for whatever feed one gets from the mobile towers and be content with it.

However, what goes against Starlink is the overall cost of service and the equipment. If they make is reasonable for us, then I presume there is no harm in for them going either solo or collaborate with Airtel or Jio.

Lets take into account a country like the USA. They have been laying fiber optic cables for so long and yet the hinterland and some low tier cities are still awaiting fiber. The well off ones in those areas have given up the wait for fiber and subscribed to Starlink service.

In US, you no longer talk about speeds in MBPS for those areas which have fiber for quite sometime, its all in GB's. Some of the smart people have already found ways to hoodwink the Fiber providers or ISP equipment in order to bridge it or simply get rid of it and then use SFP modules and plug them into Ubiquiti UniFi equipment and use the fiber optic as primary connection and those who are well off then subscribe to Starlink service and use it as a fallback internet or secondary. The UniFi gateway doing the load-balancing. But Starlink still continues to be expensive.

Thats why the crux of the matter is cost.If they make it affordable here , then there is no stopping them.

[ValarMorghulis]

Multiple questions:

1. Who would have access to this? Any Tom Dick and Harry with an uplink device? It'll be a nightmare for the law enforcement agencies. Post 2008 terrorist attack, satellite communication devices are highly regulated.
2. How will this be subjected to regulations? Govt. now wants the ability to pinpoint any person using an internet connection as well as blackout internet in case of an emergency, yet still have it working for law enforcement agencies. How will that work?
3. What happens if tomorrow US wants to arm twist India against any scenario? Example another nation leads an incursion and India responds and occupies some land. US doesn't want India to prevail and prevents internet access. What then?

Dependency on internet, which is pretty much a critical infra now, in the hands of a foreign power is fraught with danger.

[itwasntme]

Originally Posted by ValarMorghulis

2. How will this be subjected to regulations? Govt. now wants the ability to pinpoint any person using an internet connection as well as blackout internet in case of an emergency, yet still have it working for law enforcement agencies. How will that work?

The answer to question 2:

Starlink's India entry: Government seeks control center citing security concerns

https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/in...-12965182.html

Glad to see this although it cuts both ways. However, the upsides are overall better than the downsides.