Starlink begins security and technical compliance demo in Mumbai

Elon Muskrsquos Starlink has commenced the demonstration runs on Thursday in Mumbai to showcase compliance with security and technical requirements for satellite broadband services news agency PTI reported quoting sourcesThe demo which will also be conducted on Friday is to be carried out before designated law enforcement agencies using the provisional spectrum assigned to Starlink sources told PTIThe exercise marks a significant step forward in Starlinkrsquos planned entry into the Indian satellite broadband market as these demonstrations are a key prerequisite for obtaining final clearances before commercial rolloutThe development comes amid rising anticipation around satellite communications in India with major players including Starlink Bhartibacked Eutelsat OneWeb and Reliance JioSES gearing up for the highstakes ldquobroadbandfromtheskiesrdquo raceSources told PTI that Starlink will conduct the demo to establish compliance with security norms mdash including the Lawful Interception System and Lawful Interception Monitoring mdash and with the technical conditions under the Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite GMPCS authorisationWhile Starlink has not commented on the developments sources stated that it is targeting a capacity of 600 gigabits per second Based on this Gen 1 constellation capacity and rough estimates the company could support around one lakh connections in the futureSo far the Department of Telecommunications DoT has been informed about Starlinkrsquos three gateway locations mdash Mumbai Noida and Chennai the sources saidEarlier this month Starlinkrsquos India Market Access Director Parnil Urdhwareshe said the company is ldquoexcitedrdquo and fully focused on being ready to offer Indians a secure compliant and highquality broadband experienceUrdhwareshe also lauded the governmentrsquos coordinated efforts acknowledging the involvement of the Ministry of Communications Telecom Regulatory Authority of India TRAI Department of Space DoS InSpace and Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade DPIITldquoWersquore just focused on being ready to provide Indians who want that option with a compliant secure and great experience And wersquore really excited with all of the fantastic work that the government is doing and you see this in concert across the Ministry of Communications the TRAI the DoS Department of Space InSpace the DPIIT mdash everybodyrsquos been doing a whole lot of work to make sure that option is made available to people who want itrdquo Urdhwareshe had said on the sidelines of the India Mobile Congress IMC 2025 earlier this monthDuring a panel discussion he added that Starlinkrsquos mission has always been to deliver highspeed lowlatency broadband particularly in areas where connectivity has been a challengeldquoA very large percentage of Starlink users are residential users who live in rural areas and a very large number of those users are people to whom Starlink was the first option they had for truly great broadband So serving those rural users is fundamental to the mission of Starlinkrdquo he had saidSpeaking at IMC Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia highlighted that satellite communications are expanding the boundaries of connectivity mdash from land to sea to spaceldquoThe Satcom market today across telecom and broadcasting which is at close to USD 4 billion will triple to almost USD 15 billion by 2033rdquo Scindia saidLast month the telecom departmentrsquos apex decisionmaking body sought clarification from TRAI on certain aspects of its satellite spectrum recommendations including the proposed fee for urban customers and the annual minimum spectrum charges suggested by the regulatorWith PTI inputs