Elon Musk's Starlink to launch Internet services in India within two months, offers one-month free trial. Details here

Elon Musk's satellite internet service Starlink is gearing up to start operations in India within the next two months after receiving a licence last week, reported ANI.

Starlink is the third company to get a licence from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT). Before Starlink, the DoT had approved the operations of Eutelsat's OneWeb and Reliance Jio to provide services in the country.

Subscription cost and free trial

As part of the brand’s launch strategy, Starlink plans to offer a complimentary one-month trial period with each device purchase, allowing customers to test the service before starting regular monthly payments, said ANI.

The company has also finalised its pricing structure for the Indian market, setting the cost of the required satellite dish device at approximately ₹33,000. Customers are expected to be charged ₹3,000 for the monthly unlimited data plan, ANI reported.

What is Starlink’s agenda?

The satellite internet service is preparing to shake up connectivity in India’s remote and underserved regions, where traditional broadband infrastructure has been challenging to establish or simply non-existent, as per the report.

Starlink's low Earth orbit satellite constellation promises to deliver high-speed internet access to far-flung locations previously unreachable by conventional terrestrial networks.

ANI reported that the pricing structure remains consistent with Starlink's regional strategy, as the device costs remain the same as neighbouring countries. In Bangladesh, the Starlink device is priced at ₹33,000, while Bhutan maintains the same ₹33,000 price point for the equipment.

Musk's firm present in 100 countries

Starlink currently operates in over 100 countries, offering both residential and roaming plans. In most regions, the residential service is divided into two categories: Residential Lite, designed for light usage and smaller households, and Residential, suited for larger households with higher data needs, according to Financial Express.

Earlier this year, the company signed pacts with Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio and Sunil Bharti Mittal’s Bharti Airtel, which are the largest telecom firms of India.