India’s digital economy is getting a big boost from Elon Musk’s satellite internet. Starlink’s director in India said on Monday that the company had set up a wholly-owned India subsidiary, per Insider.
Under the plan, SpaceX’s satellite internet network, Starlink, will roll out 200,000 user terminals in India in an effort to expand its service in Asia, according to a company presentation.
The company’s India director, Sanjay Bhargava, said in a LinkedIn post on Monday that Starlink has set up a wholly-owned subsidiary in India called Starlink Satellite Communications Private and the subsidiary can now apply for licenses and open bank accounts.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s digital economy plan has seen inflow of different tech ideas and investment into India, especially from the United States. Google, Facebook, Amazon and Apple are all racing to grab a share in the emerging market.
Google and Jio are expected to launch the JioPhone Next today, an affordable smartphone that will cost 6,499 Indian rupees ($87), developed by the companies to serve India’s underserved.
The pandemic brought an increase in digital activities, escalating India’s need for affordable internet as more people embrace the digital life, including edtech.
With smartphones and affordable internet, which would empower the second-largest market in the world for digital life, India is on the verge of creating one of the most competitive digital economies in the world.
Bhargava, a former PayPal executive, shared a company’s presentation last week on LinkedIn, which stated that the subsidiary has a “stretch goal” to deploy 200,000 Starlink user terminals in more than 160,000 rural districts in India by December 2022.
The user terminals, which connect to the Starlink satellites, are part of the $499 kit users buy after signing up to the $99-a-month internet service.
While the $499 for kit and $99-a-month seem high for the underserved individuals, it isn’t for corporations.
According to the company presentation, Starlink wants to introduce its internet to schools in and near to the capital city of New Delhi, too.
“We want to serve the underserved,” Bhargava wrote.
Bhargava previously worked with SpaceX CEO Elon Musk to create PayPal, according to Bhargava’s LinkedIn profile.
Musk tweeted on Monday: Sanjay deserves a lot of credit for making X/PayPal succeed. Now helping SpaceX serve rural communities in India. Much respect.
However, Musk admitted in June that Starlink will require at least $30 billion to execute its global internet goal, and the company has been reaching out to countries and companies for partnership.
Bloomberg reported On Friday that Starlink is also in talks with two telecommunications companies in the Philippines, where it also wants to launch its satellite service.
SpaceX has been working to put more satellites into space recently. There are currently more than 1,650 Starlink satellites in orbit. The company’s goal is to have 42,000 by mid-2027 in order to create an internet service which stretches across the world, per Insider.
Starlink’s satellite roll out in India will mean that the company is likely going to capture a huge market ahead of rival Blue Origin’s Kuiper. The Amazon-owned company has been at loggerhead with SpaceX, triggered by the latter’s request from the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) to modify its satellite operations. The two are jostling for constellations but Amazon said Starlink’s request for network modification will hurt other players in the industry.