Starlink's reach in India capped at 20 lakh users

New Delhi: Billionaire Elon Musk-led satellite communication services provider Starlink can have only 20 lakh connections in India, Union Minister Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar said on Monday, playing down the threat to state-run BSNL and other telecom players.

The Minister of State for Telecom was speaking on the sidelines of a review meeting of BSNL here.

"Starlink can have only 20 lakh customers in India and offer up to 200 Mbps speed. That won't affect telecom services," the minister said.

Satcom services are expected to target rural and remote areas where BSNL is known to have a significant presence.

He said that the upfront cost for satcom services will be too high, and the monthly cost may be around Rs 3,000.

The minister said that the BSNL 4G rollout is complete, and it does not plan to increase tariffs as of now. "We want market first. There are no tariff hikes planned."