Elon Musk's Starlink agrees to data security rules, satcom license application to move forward: Report
Hindustan TimesStarlink's satellite broadband services license application in India is set to move forward after it agreed with the department of telecommunications to meet the government's data localisation and security requirements, according to a Moneycontrol report. Starlink's 2022 application for the Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite Services licence is the first step before acquiring a trial spectrum at a nominal application fee. Starlink and Kuiper are both currently caught in a battle with private telecom operators Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea, with the telcos expressing concerns and asserting that only auctioned satellite spectrum should be used for urban or “retail” consumers for a level playing field as they got their spectrums through auctions in the first place, rather than through administrative allocations. However, Starlink responded saying terrestrial telecom services and satellite communications are fundamentally different and can't be compared, adding that if 5G mobile spectrum can be shared among telecom companies, it should be allocated administratively instead of through an auction.