![\"\"](\"\/\/www.iser-br.com\/Themes\/Release\/images\/responsive\/ettelecom-default.jpg\")
Starlink has called on the country's state governments and union territories (UTs) to tap the Universal Services Obligation Fund (USOF) corpus – estimated at roughly Rs 55,000 crore -- to fund the estimated Year 1 annual cost of a dedicated Starlink terminal, besides using their own state budget pools to ramp up broadband connectivity via its satellite service across state schools, police stations, health centres and other government facilities.
“The exact cost of Starlink in India is currently unknown, (but) at 30% taxes\/government levies, states and UTs should consider how to fund the Rs 1,50,000 annual cost per Starlink terminal (for Year 1) by seeking assistance from the USOF, their own budgets or raise funds from other sources,” says a Starlink user guide shared by Bhargava in his LinkedIn post.
The company’s Rs 1.58 lakh first-year cost estimate of a Starlink terminal in India includes $499 (Rs 37,400) towards user equipment, a monthly $99 service fee (Rs 7,425 approx) spread over a year and local taxes\/levies at 30%.
The company has called on state governments\/UTs to do their own “cost-benefit analyses” and actively consider Starlink as their preferred high-speed broadband service and even suggested possible financing avenues. The post came just over a week after the Indian government stopped SpaceX’s satellite broadband arm from seeking pre-bookings for its Internet from space service as it does not have a local license.
Following the communications ministry missive, SpaceX withdrew its pre-bookings offer in India. Bhargava, though, has said Starlink – the satellite broadband arm of Musk’s SpaceX – will apply for a commercial license in India by latest January 31, 2022. Starlink. He added that the company is targeting 2 lakh terminals in India by December 2022 if it’s able to start rollouts by next April.
Bhargava recently said “there are currently unknowns” around when potential consumers will get delivery of Starlink as the company is not yet licensed in India. The company, though, has applied for trial licences.
The user guide shared by Bhargava also notes that “Starlink’s WiFi router “can support multiple users per user terminal,” and that its service can be “deployed at multi-purpose centres to be used on a shared basis”.
A WiFi router, typically, converts satellite signals to WiFi, allowing consumer devices like smartphones, laptops, tablets, smart TVs, gaming consoles to plug onto the Internet.