Elon Musk’s Starlink, which is likely to launch operations in India over the next few months, is unlikely to disrupt the country’s home broadband market due to significantly higher pricing compared to fiber-based plans, said India Ratings & Research (Ind-Ra) said recently in a press note.
“While Starlink has not announced pricing (monthly charges and/or cost of customer premise equipment (CPE)/ hardware cost) for India yet, based on some neighbouring countries and recent launches, monthly usage charges could be nearly INR3,000-3,500. This will be nearly 10x higher than entry-level monthly plans offered by telcos, presenting a significant price differential in a price-sensitive market such as India,” says the press note.
The company is expected to begin trial runs within the next three to six months, but with monthly tariffs of ₹3,000–3,500 and the initial gear costs of ₹30,000–35,000, the service will be nearly ten times more expensive than entry-level fiber broadband plans, which start at ₹399.
“The upcoming satellite internet services are not likely to pose an immediate threat to Indian telecom companies, since their home broadband internet services are more competitive in terms of pricing and bandwidth than Starlink’s expected offering in the urban areas having dense fibre connectivity. However, remote and far-flung areas, which were earlier facing limited connectivity, are likely to benefit from satellite internet services, says Priyanka Bansal, Associate Director, Corporates, Ind-Ra.
Focus on Remote Areas
Ind-Ra noted that Starlink’s value proposition lies in reaching underserved and rural regions, where traditional broadband remains unreliable or unavailable. The service promises uptime of 99% or higher, which could prove critical for mission-driven applications and far-flung locations.
In contrast, urban consumers are expected to treat Starlink as a secondary option, given the widespread availability of affordable and faster fiber networks.
No Threat to Mobility Market
Ind-Ra also dismissed concerns that Starlink’s direct-to-cell technology, currently limited to SMS and still testing voice and data services, could challenge India’s wireless mobility sector. The country’s telecom operators serve around 1.2 billion subscribers with nearly 80% data penetration, leaving little room for overlap.
Regulatory Approvals and Competition
Starlink received a Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite (GMPCS) license from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) in June 2025 and clearance from the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) in July, valid until 2030.
This makes Starlink the third licensed satellite broadband provider in India, after OneWeb, backed by Bharti Enterprises, and Jio Satellite Communications, a Reliance Jio-SES joint venture.
However, spectrum capacity limitations and the need for infrastructure partnerships remain hurdles. Ind-Ra said Starlink will likely require collaborations with local players for direct-to-cell rollouts.
Trial runs will be supported by partnerships with Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio, announced earlier this year. Meanwhile, Jio has raised concerns with the DoT over what it termed the regulator’s “low pricing” of satcom spectrum. The DoT has downplayed these objections, signaling regulatory support for the satellite broadband sector.
