Musk’s company unwilling to follow India rules, must set up local base stations: Official

New Delhi: Starlink's reluctance to comply with Indian government rules mandating domestic infrastructure creation is hindering its ability to get licence for starting satellite communication services in the country, a senior official privy to the deliberations said Wednesday. The Elon Musk-owned company will need to first establish local 'base stations' or satellite ground stations before being allowed to offer its services in India, the official said.

"Laws are the same for everyone," the official told ET. "Starlink is not willing to comply with Indian regulations," the official said.

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Local ground infrastructure is critical for satellite networks to safeguard data. Ground stations act as a key in transmitting data to the satellites as well as to the end users.

While Starlink has demonstrated security compliance last year, it is yet to fully respond to queries raised by security agencies including on data storage and how data travels.

There are concerns that Starlink may bypass Indian regulations-which mandate all data of Indian citizens to pass through local ground stations-by using inter-satellite link technology. This allows satellites to communicate with each other without touching the ground infrastructure.

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A base station is a radio transmitter and receiver that serves as the direct local hub or "first hop" for wireless devices, connecting end-users to a network.

Speaking at the India Mobile Congress last week, Starlink Business Operations vice president Lauren Dreyer said the company has invested in the ground infrastructure needed to begin operations in India, including the "20 gateway sites equipped with hundreds of antennas."

A gateway or gateway site acts as a translation and routing point that connects a particular network to another such as bridging a local wireless or sensor network over to the broader internet or a fiber optic core.

Dreyer's comments were almost immediately followed by Musk accusing India of blocking Starlink services in the country at the behest of "certain oligarchs in order to maintain their monopolistic chokehold."