India Grants License to Starlink: A New Era for Satellite Internet Connectivity
In mid-June 2025, India’s Department of Telecommunications granted Starlink a Global Mobile Personal Communications by Satellite (GMPCS) license, publicly confirmed by Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia. Starlink becomes the third GMPCS licensee in India after Eutelsat OneWeb and Reliance Jio’s satellite venture. Starlink operates a Low-Earth Orbit constellation at about 550 km altitude, and globally has deployed nearly 7,000 satellites by early 2025, with about 4.6 million subscribers in 2024. The DoT license will be followed by spectrum allocation, with TRAI recommendations in May 2025 for a renewable 5-year license and 4% of AGR annual spectrum fee, plus a minimum ₹3,500
