SpaceX’s Starlink has joined hands with Reliance Subsidiary Jio Platforms as well as Bharti Airtel in a recent business deal. The deal has been poised to offer the users High speed satellite internet speeds that might be offered in the country. But before being offered in India Space X must first adhere to the necessary regulations and approvals.
The arrival of Starlink resources had been expected for a long time. While India has been able to easily gain better internet speeds in the top tier markets, rural markets still suffer from a lack of connectivity. Starlink’s satellite-based tech can bridge this gap by ensuring that every user has a direct access from space, this would bypass the need for extensive ground based infrastructure that is necessary for normal internet connectivity.
Starlink Plans and Speeds: What Can India Expect?
Although Starlink has not announced its plans for India yet. To gain an idea of what kind of pricing Starlink assisted plans would amount to, here are the plans that have been established in Bhutan’s market.
Bhutan’s Starlink Plans:
While there are an extensive array of plans two of the most opted ones are the 23 Mbps to 100Mbps speed limit plans.
Residential lite plan-Nu 3,000, per month
Speeds- 23 Mbps To 100 Mbps, These pans are suitable for Casual Browsing, Social Media and Video Streaming.
Standard Residential Plan- Nu 4,200 Per month- Around Rs 4,201
Speeds from 25 Mbps to 110 Mbps, Offers unlimited data usage for gaming, HD streaming, and Video conferencing.
Given the 30% higher taxation for foreign digital services in India, Starlink Plans could be slightly more expensive than the ones in Bhutan. These prices would vary from Rs 3500- Rs 4500 per month.
How Is Starlink Different Than Your Conventional Internet
Starlink operates through a network of low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites. These satellites help the provider provide low-latency internet with higher speeds. Such services are available in several countries and such a functionality is especially beneficial for countries bereft of traditional broadband services.
As per the stats that have been shared it is possible that Starlink-assisted internet could provide speeds up to 220 Mbps. Such technology would help the overall spread of the internet across the nation. Starlink does not rely on any underground fiber cables or cellular towers. Rather it uses satellites to ensure an even spread of connectivity. As of Jan 2024, Space X has been able to deploy 7,000 Starlink satellites, with a solemn promise by Elon Musk that the technology would be upgraded every 5 years with better technology.
To use the new connections users would need a Starlink disk and router , which would directly communicate with the satellites orbiting the Earth. The Dish aligns with the closest satellite and provides seamless connectivity to the users. The Network works well with fixed location use, but with added hardware it can also function well while the user is on the move.
Pricing The Biggest Challenge
Starlink connections require a onetime fee of Rs 25,000 for the installation and from then on the user would have to pay a price of around Rs 5000-to Rs 7000 for the internet connectivity. This is significantly higher than that of the normal broadband services that are as of yet available in India. It’s possible to ensure that the new tech can be adopted in some of the most far away areas. It’s possible that Airtel and Jio might develop India specific plans with accessible pricing models. But even then beating the price range of around Rs 400 – Rs 600 to gain mass adoption could be challenge.
Also Read: Jio, Airtel And Starlink: India’s Internet Revolution With Lightning-Fast Speeds – What’s New?
