The Indian government has apparently given Elon Musk’s Starlink permission to run its satellite internet services there. The Department of Telecom (DoT) has awarded Starlink the Letter of Intent (LoI), according to a Moneycontrol report. But according to the report, the business has not yet received the “final license,” which will be granted if “all licence conditions” are met.

A government insider allegedly told Moneycontrol, “Yes, Starlink has received a letter of intent from the Dot for GMPCS, VSAT, and ISP licenses in India.” According to the source, “Once Starlink is able to fulfill all license conditions, the final license will be given.”

However, a Washington Post article raises the possibility that the abrupt demand for Starlink services in India may also have a commerce component. Indian government officials reportedly acted swiftly to authorize Starlink’s entry into the Indian market because they believe it could pave the way for more extensive trade negotiations with the United States. “The Indian side sees this as an important lubricant that facilitates a deal,” an Indian official told The Washington Post, although it is unlikely to be a specific aspect of the trade negotiations with the US. Rolling out its services in India might be worth billions of dollars for SpaceX. SpaceX could reportedly earn about $1 billion annually if it were to capture just 1% of India’s consumer broadband market.

SpaceX will soon be able to showcase its services in India thanks to Starlink’s receipt of the LoI. Consider the satellite internet services offered by Starlink to be relatively comparable to those offered by OneWeb in India. In India, OneWeb already offers satellite broadband services, and Airtel owns a sizeable portion of the business. As a result, OneWeb offers satellite broadband services to communities and businesses, and Airtel uses OneWeb’s technology to provide its clients with satellite internet.

Earlier this year, Jio and Airtel both inked agreements with SpaceX’s Starlink to offer its services to Indian consumers in a similar endeavor. This agreement, which was made public in March 2025, was contingent on SpaceX obtaining the necessary authorizations to sell Starlink in the nation. which it has now.

When Jio announced its agreement with Starlink, it stated that it would provide Starlink services through its stores and online platforms as soon as SpaceX launches its services in India. Additionally, Airtel stated that it might offer Starlink’s services to companies and sell Starlink equipment in its stores.

SpaceX’s satellite internet project, Starlink, is to use a massive network of low-Earth orbit satellites to deliver high-speed internet. In contrast to conventional cable-based internet services, Starlink is made to provide dependable and quick internet connectivity in isolated and challenging-to-reach locations. In order to get around many of the problems that traditional broadband services experience, the service connects users to a constellation of satellites that transport data to and from Earth.

Jio and Airtel have stated that they intend to use Starlink’s technology to increase internet connectivity in remote locations without traditional infrastructure, such as schools and medical institutions in rural areas. Along with looking into ways for SpaceX to use Airtel’s telecom infrastructure in India, Airtel also intends to integrate Starlink into its present network.

Satellite-based internet from Starlink seems like a potential option for areas where setting up traditional broadband infrastructure is difficult, particularly in isolated or difficult-to-reach places. The service is currently operational in a number of nations and is working to increase its worldwide reach and performance by growing its constellation of satellites. Earlier this week, SpaceX launched Starlink services in Brazil.

Starlink is anticipated to provide upload speeds of 5 Mbps to 20 Mbps and download speeds of 25 Mbps to 220 Mbps when it launches in India. It is anticipated that latency will be between 25 and 50 ms, allowing for video conversations, gaming, and streaming.