Big blow to Elon Musk, Indian govt limits Starlink connections to…, good news for Mukesh Ambani’s Jio, Sunil Mittal’s Airtel because…

These limitations on Elon Musk’s Starlink services can benefit Mukesh Ambani’s Jio and Sunil Mittal’s Airtel.

Billionaire Elon Musk-led satellite communications company Starlink will be limited to a maximum of 20 lakh connections in India, Union Minister Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar said on Monday, downplaying concerns over its impact on state-run BSNL and other telecom operators.

The Minister of State for Telecom made the remarks while speaking on the sidelines of a BSNL review meeting.

“Starlink can have only 20 lakh customers in India and offer up to 200 Mbps speed. That won’t affect telecom services,” the minister said.

What Will Satcom Services Do?

Satcom services are expected to target rural and remote areas where BSNL is known to have a significant presence..A government official mentioned that the limit on Starlink connections is due to its existing capacity.

The minister said that the upfront cost for satcom services will be too high and the monthly cost may be around Rs 3,000. The minister also said that BSNL 4G rollout is complete and it does not plan to increase tariffs as of now. “We want market first. There are no tariff hikes planned,” he said.

What Minister Said On BSNL Future Plans?

The minister said that BSNL has seen a 20-30 per cent increase in revenue in the first quarter of the current fiscal year due to the rollout of 4G services and technology is settling down.

“Earlier, there were some technical issues but over 90 per cent of them have been sorted out. There were issues around power stations. 30,000 power stations have been replaced with an expenditure of around Rs 600-700 crore,” Pemmasani said, adding that improvement in power supplies has resulted in higher uptime for BSNL networks and enhanced customer’s experience.

“Each circle is being given individual targets in terms of increasing subscriber base,” he said, adding that BSNL has had a lot of legacy issues that are being resolved now.

When asked about the status of Chinese equipment in BSNL, the minister said that the government plans to continue using indigenous technologies in the state-run firm and it will gradually phase out 2G and 3G equipment and do away with the need for maintenance of that equipment.

BSNL has installed 2G and 3G technology using some of the equipment from Chinese vendors, including ZTE. 

(With Inputs From PTI)