Musk’s Satellite Internet Project Faces Heat; Industry Body Approaches TRAI, ISRO, Says SpaceX Has No Licence

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) have been approached by a group of industry leaders to prohibit Elon Musk-founded SpaceX technologies from pre-selling the beta version of the Starlink satellite internet services in the country.

The body comprises the likes of Google, Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft and Hughes who complain that SpaceX does not have the necessary license or authorization from the government to roll out these services in India.

TV Ramachandran, President of the Broadband India Forum wrote in the letter, “We request you to urgently intervene to protect fair competition and adherence to existing policy and regulatory norms.”

SpaceX plans to begin offering internet connectivity to its Indian users from 2022 onward and it is currently providing the beta version on pre-orders for a completely refundable deposit of $99, i.e. around Rs 7261, Economic Times reports.

However, the broadband forum maintains that Starlink does not have its ground/earth stations in India. Moreover, it adds that the Musk-backed firm hasn’t acquired the satellite frequency authorization to provide such beta services from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and ISRO.

The current guidelines mandate that commercial launches cannot be executed during the testing phase and SpaceX’s Starlink service has allegedly violated these norms.