File 'criminal case' against Elon Musk's Starlink: Non-profit Telecom Watchdog requests Trai

Telecom Watchdog, a non-profit organisation, has sought sector regulator's intervention to file a criminal case against Elon Musk-owned SpaceX for cheating following the company's pre-booking of space broadband plans for consumers in India.

In a letter to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India secretary V Raghunandan, dated September 29, the organisation said, "You are requested to take immediate action to stop this illegal activity of Starlink; and order filing of criminal case against the company under Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for cheating.

The organisation further asked the telecom regulator to take effective steps to ensure refund with interest, and reprimand the telecom department (DoT) officials of "inaction" on the prevailing issue.


It is one of the two letters it sent to telecom authorities seeking action against the US-based space major, SpaceX, that owns Starlink. Earlier, in an identical letter to DoT secretary, the non-profit said that the firm was cheating consumers by accepting pre-orders with a deposit of Rs 7,500 ($100) for yet-to-be-launched service.

"We are writing to you highlighting a very serious event in which the
consumers are being cheated by a foreign company - Starlink Internet Services Limited ­ registered in Ireland, a tax haven." the letter alleged.

Starlink, according to Telecom Watchdog, has not yet received any license for providing satellite-based communication or satcom services in India.

The organisation, however, further believes that the Musk-owned company had undertaken unethical business practice, and only once the deposit is made, the customers would be able to see the terms and conditions.

Following the payment for requisite service, the consumers are told that the company "does not guarantee" when the services would be made available, and the tariff would be informed later.

Starting March 2021, the company has been accepting pre-bookings for a high-speed internet service, beamed down from a constellation of multiple low-earth orbit (LEO) satellites, with services likely to be available by 2022 in India.

The multinational firm has recently appointed Sanjay Bhargava as the country manager to smoothen its India foray.

Bhargava, in his LinkedIn post, said that SpaceX would focus on ten rural Lok Sabha constituencies, and also indicated plans to meet with ministers, legislators, and bureaucrats to work on enhancing broadband penetration.

Starlink said that more than 5,000 terminals have already been pre-ordered for the country, and claims to make as many as 200,000 terminals active in India by December 2022.

UK-based OneWeb, a Starlink rival, aims to have more than 600 satellites by 2022 to offer space broadband services worldwide. In 2020, the British government invested $500 million in OneWeb.

Bharti Airtel's Sunil Mittal who is investing $1 billion in OneWeb, also aims to roll out satcom services by mid 2022 in India, which may make the satcom market more competitive.