Musk taking broadband to underprivileged districts with 200 terminals

Elon Musk’s SpaceX is planning to pilot satellite based broadband services in 12 underprivileged districts through its 100% subsidiary Starlink Satellite Communications Pvt Ltd, according to a Business Standard report. The subsidiary company is looking to bring 2,00,000 satellite broadband terminals, of which 80% would be in rural districts. It is also working closely with Niti Aayog to bring broadband connectivity to 100 schools (20 in Delhi and the rest in rural districts) as a proof of concept in its first tryst with India.

Services to be provided at Rs 1 lakh annually

Starlink expects companies, whether small, medium or big to look at innovative ways to make the service affordable for rural consumers. It is also keenly observing the way the Universal Service Obligation Fund will be deploying its surplus to ensure connectivity to all. Telcos contribute to this fund every year.

The company will be providing the service for around Rs 1 lakh annually (about $100 a month), while the kit, including the dish, modem and cable, will cost about Rs 40,000. Customers can pre-book orders for a connection.

Further, Starlink is planning to collaborate with the entrepreneurs to find solutions for making it affordable for users. An entrepreneur for instance could set up village centers where satellite broadband connectivity would be used to provide a plethora of services like ATM, digital library, cyber cafe, rural digital healthcare centre, amongst others and thereby making a viable business model.

The company also said that it sees a lot of potential to extend its broadband services in India as 70% of the schools do not have broadband facility in India, which provides Starlink with a massive opportunity.