India Says Starlink Was Last of 3 Satcom Licensees to Apply

Government sources told ANI on Friday that India welcomes every satellite communications player and that Starlink was the last of three licensed operators to apply and to file security compliance paperwork.

“Customer is the king,” an official said, adding that consumers will pick a provider based on price, value and the quality of what is offered.

The three companies that currently hold satcom licences in India are Jio, OneWeb and Starlink. Sources said Starlink was the last of the three to apply and the last to receive its licence, but all three are licensed. They described the application process as “completely transparent.”

All licensees have been asked to demonstrate their capabilities and meet security requirements. According to the same sources, OneWeb submitted its compliance documents first, followed by Jio, with Starlink last.

Two steps still block a commercial rollout at scale: a decision on spectrum allocation and pricing, and fulfilment of security requirements by all three players. Once both are done, sources said, the ecosystem can benefit as a whole.

That framing tracks the earlier government line that the three licensees sit at broadly the same regulatory stage, and it lands weeks after Starlink answered Reliance’s public welcome of satellite competition. India’s Ministry of Communications had already rejected claims that Starlink was being singled out in an October 8 statement covering Starlink, Eutelsat OneWeb and Jio Satellite Communications.

Elon Musk retweeted an overnight summary of the ANI report on X.

What the New Delhi briefing does not give is a launch date. Spectrum pricing remains unsettled, security clearances are still outstanding for the licensed trio, and none of the three has a green light for a full commercial start.