Elon Musk’s Starlink to offer cheaper internet rates in India: Report

Starlink has started pre-booking for its internet services in India with deposit amount, and it has received good response in the country. The company is exploring the possibilities of collaborating with telecom companies in India to expand broadband services in the country with a focus on rural areas.

Starlink India director Sanjay Bhargava recently told a news publication that the service is expensive and passing the cost on to the customers will make it affordable.

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Bhargava said Starlink will need to offer services that exceed pricing. He said the company would initially focus on the interior areas of the country where internet service is difficult to access.

In a video posted last month, Bhargava outlined a phase-wise plan to expand Starlink services by providing hardware kits to rural communities in India. The company intends to operate at least two lakh of its devices in India, of which 1.6 lakh will be rural communities.

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Earlier this week, Bhargava spoke of collaborating with Indian telecom companies to expand broadband services in the country with a focus on rural areas. The Starlink India head said that discussions with broadband service providers will begin once 12 phase-1 aspirational districts are identified by NITI Aayog and the company will look into the interest levels of various players and USOF (Universal Service Obligation Fund).

Read also: Elon Musk praises Starlink India chief for connecting rural areas. view Post

Starlink claims that it has received over 5,000 pre-orders from India. Company $99 or . is charging the deposit amount of ₹7,350 per subscriber and claims to offer data speeds in the range of 50-150 Mbps in the beta phase. Once more Starlink satellites are deployed into low-Earth orbit, speeds are expected to touch Gbps levels.