When will Starlink, Jio-SES, OneWeb launch satellite broadband services in India? Scindia reveals final hurdle

India’s satellite broadband services are expected to commence once operators finalise their rollout plans and the telecom regulator sets spectrum prices, Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said on Thursday.

Speaking at the India Mobile Congress 2025, Scindia said two firms have received licenses to provide satellite communication (Satcom) services, while a third has been issued a Letter of Intent (LoI).

“It depends on the players in terms of how quickly they can roll out their execution strategy,” Scindia told reporters. “There is one issue that TRAI has to still finalise — the spectrum pricing. That is the pending part, and that regulator will do.”

The announcement comes as anticipation grows around India’s satellite broadband rollout, a space attracting Elon Musk’s Starlink, Bharti-backed Eutelsat OneWeb, and Reliance Jio-SES.

The government has granted licenses to Eutelsat OneWeb and Jio-SES and issued an LoI to Starlink, clearing the way for global and domestic players to begin services once pricing and allocation issues are resolved.

Starlink on Wednesday said India’s rural markets would be critical to its business strategy.

“Most of Starlink’s users worldwide are residential customers in rural areas — people for whom we were often the first real broadband option,” Parnil Urdhwareshe, Starlink’s India market access director, said at the event. “Serving rural users is fundamental to the mission of Starlink.”

He added that Starlink’s potential user base in cities such as Mumbai would be “only a fraction of what it could cater to in rural districts.”

The final step before commercial launch is the allocation of operational spectrum by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

The company has also received trial satcom spectrum to demonstrate compliance with Indian security norms and has signed partnership agreements with Bharti Airtel and Jio Platforms for potential equipment distribution and connectivity to institutions like schools and healthcare centres.

TRAI has proposed that Satcom operators pay 4% of adjusted gross revenue (AGR) or ₹3,500 per MHz annually, whichever is higher, along with ₹500 per urban subscriber. The DoT has expressed concerns over distinguishing between urban and rural users for billing and compliance. Industry groups, including the Broadband India Forum (BIF), have urged regulators to lower spectrum costs for rural areas.

“Spectrum charges for rural areas should be minimal and lower than current TRAI recommendations,” said Debashish Bhattacharya, senior deputy director general of BIF.