&w=3840&q=100)
Starlink pricing in India to follow regional cues, serve up to 1 mn users
Despite India's large market size, capacity constraints and global costs are expected to dictate Starlink's pricing strategy in India, which will be similar to other nations in the subcontinent, official sources said. In India, Starlink kits are expected to cost about Rs 33,000, while monthly subscriptions may remain between Rs 3,000 and Rs 4,200, in line with prices announced for neighbouring Bangladesh and Bhutan, where services began in May and February respectively, they said.
The company announced similar pricing for Sri Lanka, where its application is in advanced stages of regulatory clearance, they pointed out. The monthly plans for India may cost slightly more than those in underdeveloped African economies such as Zimbabwe and Madagascar.
Starlink's hardware will be available at these prices through retail outlets of telecom operators Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio. In April, both announced separate deals with Starlink to distribute the American firm's equipment and services in India for their customers.
People familiar with the matter say the company does not have much to gain by lowering prices to attract more customers, as internet capacity from satellites will remain capped. The satcom giant currently provides services in over 125 countries through a constellation of over 7,600 low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites operated by SpaceX, the American spacecraft manufacturer, launch service provider and satcom company owned by Elon Musk. However, the company plans to deploy up to 12,000 satellites to complete its constellation.
So far, it has priced its services at two to three times those of traditional telcos in both high-income markets such as the United States and developing economies such as Kenya or Nigeria. As a result, Starlink will remain a premium service given the capacity constraints of satellite-delivered internet, and may be able to cater to only about one million connections in the short to medium term, officials said. This aligns with analyst estimates. In February, a research note by Jefferies pointed out Starlink's current capacity may be able to support 0.18 million subscribers in India, but could grow to 5.7 million users by 2030 assuming a 30-fold rise in capacity.
Globally, Starlink reported having more than five million customers in February, up from 4.6 million in December 2024 and four million in September 2024. By contrast, private-sector terrestrial operators such as Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea (Vi) had 472.4 million, 390 million and 204.7 million mobile broadband users respectively in India as of end-April, according to official figures. State-run BSNL had 90.9 million users.
However, telecom operators wrote to the government last month arguing that the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has grossly underestimated the capacity that satcom players wield. While the current traffic catered to by Jio, Airtel and Vi is 23,012 million GB per month, the capacity planned to be available in India by Project Kuiper and Starlink is 29,112 million GB per month, the telcos said.
In April, the satcom operator received provisional registrations from Pakistan's space regulator, with Islamabad stating on record that it hopes Starlink will receive full clearance and begin operations by the end of 2025. In May, Bangladeshi telecom authorities granted the necessary licences for Starlink to operate in the country. Bhutan was the first country in the subcontinent to get Starlink connectivity, back in February.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
34 minutes ago
- Time of India
More Starlink satellites are falling, and it's because of the sun: Here's how
Double trouble! and his billion-dollar space company have both been facing a difficult time recently. While the former is a victim of his own actions, his company is being attacked by the king of the solar system – the sun. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now According to a recent study by a NASA research center, cited by media reports, the Sun's intensifying activity is affecting Earth's satellites, particularly those in SpaceX's Starlink constellation. As the Sun approaches the peak of its 11-year cycle, there is a surge in geomagnetic storms which is causing more and more Starlink satellites to deorbit and fall from the sky. On Monday, an expert warned that while the Starlink satellites typically burn-up during atmospheric re-entry, their de-orbiting phase presents significant risks, as their unpredictable trajectories can create collision hazards for other spacecraft present in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). After their launch in 2019, SpaceX satellites began their atmospheric re-entry in 2020 when two satellites fell from the sky. However, in the progressive years, more and more such satellites have fallen. In 2021, 78 satellites fell, in 2022, 99 satellites fell; and in 2023, 88 fell. The figure surged even higher in 2024 when 316 Starlink satellites fell out of the sky, as per a report by a team led by space physicist Denny Oliviera of the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, reported Science Alert. It was when the researchers analysed the 523 Starlink satellites that entered the Earth's atmosphere again between 2020 and 2024, that they figured out the clear correlation with solar behaviour. This was the period when the Sun escalated towards the peak of its activity cycle. "We clearly show that the intense solar activity of the current solar cycle has already had significant impacts on Starlink reentries," wrote the researchers. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now "This is a very exciting time in satellite orbital drag research, as the number of satellites in low-Earth orbit and the level of solar activity are at historic highs." What is the 11 year cycle? Image credits: Getty Images The solar cycle is an 11-year cycle of fluctuations in the Sun's activity, and currently it is at the peak of this cycle. This means a rise in solar activity and thus solar ejections, which has left the upper atmosphere heating up significantly. The added heat energy causes the atmosphere to expand, increasing the drag on spacecraft in low Earth orbit and making it difficult for them to maintain their trajectories. "This phenomenon is normal and is caused by atmospheric anomalies due to heightened solar activity. When solar activity intensifies, the upper boundary rises, increasing collisions between low-orbit satellites and atmospheric molecules, which accelerates orbital decay. The satellites gradually lose speed and eventually deorbit," Wang Ya'nan, chief editor of Beijing-based Aerospace Knowledge magazine, told the Global Times on Monday. Typically, high-value satellites have autonomous orbit adjustment capabilities that allow them to handle the impact of the solar activities. However, the Starlink satellites that have been designed as low-cost, high-density, mass-produced satellites have a weaker orbit control. According to Wang, Starlink satellites burn up quickly and thus are unlikely to become long-term space debris or hit Earth's surface. They just pose an ability to affect other low-orbit space launches.
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Trump vs Musk: Billionaire investor Michael Moritz' advice to Silicon Valley, 'One of them is a medical monarch...'
Silicon Valley investor Michael Moritz took Elon Musk's side and said Trump's budget truly is abomination. Longtime Silicon Valley investor Michael Moritz said the tussle between Donald Trump and Elon Musk was inevitable as one of them is a medieval monarch and another is a revolutionary. In his column on Financial Times, Mortiz wrote that one man approached the government like a company and the other considers the government his company and Silicon Valley knows which to choose. Calling the eruption between Elon Musk and Donald Trump mortifying for those in Silicon Valley, Moritz backed Musk and said he is right in calling Donald Trump's budget an abomination. "I feel more than a tinge of sympathy for Musk. Unlike others, I don't believe he threw himself into this battle for personal gain or to wangle deals for his companies. He, like many, was disenchanted with a Democratic party that had lost its moorings, mismanaged California and whose leader, Joe Biden, let vanity conquer virtue. Sadly, he misjudged the character of the man with whom he threw in his lot," Mortiz wrote. Elon Musk is undoubtedly the most accomplished business builder of his generation, Moritz said. "But the government is not a company". Moritz said Musk failed to understand that Trump was more interested in the daily news cycle than in reform. "Musk is the revolutionary, the president the monarch". Musk also underestimated the way in which Trump's "cabinet and advisers, and all the targets in his crosshairs, were determined to fight him. He was the outsider. They were the occupants of the swamp." "What is the result of this meeting of company builder and medieval monarch? It's the opposite of what was promised: a US budget that has ballooned, debt levels that will only rise and crushing interest payments that make the country vulnerable to its largest creditors — Japan and China." Moritz took Elon Musk's side and said his reputation is now tarnished and his business interests hurt but Donald Trump's family business inked deals for new hotels and golf courses around the world. "One word of advice for those in Silicon Valley who followed Musk's lead and sided with Trump. Leave. Don't delude yourself that you are working to make crypto a part of global finance, minimising artificial intelligence regulation, helping start-up companies or protecting the interests of Silicon Valley. You have no sway. You are just cannon fodder," Moritz said.
Economic Times
an hour ago
- Economic Times
The hidden job crisis: 25% of Americans are functionally unemployed and it's worse than it sounds
The unemployment rate in America seems low. However, a new report suggests a different story. The Ludwig Institute says the 'true' unemployment rate is much higher. It includes people working part-time or earning low wages. Black and Hispanic workers are affected more. The institute hopes to provide a clearer picture of the economic situation. This helps policymakers make better decisions. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads The True Unemployment Rate Might Surprise You How LISEP Measures Who's Really Employed Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Work full-time (35 or more hours per week) Earn at least $25,000 annually before taxes Why the Official Numbers Doesn't Show the Real Picture Who's hit the hardest? Black workers: 27% functionally unemployed Hispanic workers: 28% White workers: 23% Women overall: more likely to be functionally unemployed than men Why it matters Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads FAQs At first glance, the U.S. job market looks strong, as the unemployment rate remained near a 50-year low in April 2025 at 4.2%, and American employers added 177,000 jobs, even amid the uncertainty of tariffs and trade wars, as per a the 'true' rate of unemployment in the US in April was 24.3%, which rose 0.03% from the previous month, as per the Ludwig Institute for Shared Economic Prosperity (LISEP) data, reported Moneywise. LISEP's True Rate of Unemployment (TRU) includes the data of the unemployed people in the US and also the workers who are employed but still struggling, according to the Chair Gene Ludwig said, 'We are facing a job market where nearly one-in-four workers are functionally unemployed, and current trends show little sign of improvement,' quoted institute's metric, called the True Rate of Unemployment (TRU), redefines what it means to be employed, and unlike the Bureau of Labour Statistics, which counts a person as employed even if they worked as little as one hour in a two-week period, TRU focuses on whether that work is actually sustainable, according to the falling short of that, like part-time workers looking for more hours, those earning poverty-level wages, or people who aren't counted by the BLS because they stopped looking for work are included in the TRU, as per explained that, 'The harsh reality is that far too many Americans are still struggling to make ends meet, and absent an influx of dependable, good-paying jobs, the economic opportunity gap will widen,' as quoted in the official unemployment rate leaves out people who aren't actively job hunting, even if they want work, and in April, that included 5.7 million people, as per Moneywise. TRU includes them along with low-wage workers and the underemployed, offering a more complete view of who's actually making a living, according to the said the rate reported by the BLS is 'not technically false,' but is 'deceiving,' considering the number of Americans in the workforce who are 'employed on poverty-like wages' or 'on a reduced workweek that they do not want,' reported numbers are even more concerning when broken down by race and gender, as per Moneywise report:The institute also revealed that Black Americans have had a higher TRU than white Americans every single month since 1995, as per the says, this method, 'provide policymakers and the public with a more transparent view of the economic situation of all Americans, particularly low- and middle-income households, compared with misleading headline statistics,' quoted said, 'Amid an already uncertain economic outlook, the rise in functional unemployment is a concerning development,' adding, 'This uncertainty comes at a price, and unfortunately, the low- and middle-income wage earners ultimately end up paying the bill," as quoted in the reported by the Ludwig Institute for Shared Economic Prosperity (LISEP), which aims to show the full picture of employment in the exactly, because it's just limited. LISEP says it's 'not technically false,' but it doesn't tell the full story.
