NEW DELHI: As it faces scrutiny over security aspects, top officials from Elon Musk’s satcom venture Starlink met commerce minister Piyush Goyal and officials from the telecom ministry on Wednesday, to brief them about the company’s plans for India.
Starlink’s delegation that met Goyal included VP Chad Gibbs and senior director Ryan Goodnight. “Discussions covered Starlink’s cutting-edge technology platform, their existing partnerships and future investment plans in India,” Goyal said.
The meeting included senior officials from the ministry of commerce as well as key functionaries from the department of telecom, who are in charge of telecom matters.
Starlink is understood to have assuaged govt’s concerns – raised mainly by the home ministry – around security, while briefing about its investment plans in the country. The company has been trying to get a licence to begin satcom services in India over the past two-to-three years but was unsuccessful so far, with security aspects emerging as a key stumbling block.
Govt has asked Starlink to set up a ‘control centre’ in India to enable the suspension or shutdown of communications services in sensitive and troubled areas, whenever required, to maintain law and order. Also, the security establishment has specified mandates to allow call interceptions by law-enforcement agencies through official channels when the need arises.
The company is yet to provide a confirmed direction towards this end. It is believed that top officials from Starlink’s global headquarters are visiting the country to assess the regulatory situation, understand market dynamics and chalk out a future strategy.
The move comes just as the American satcom company’s application for a satellite communications licence enters the final phase, as it stitched up agreements with local Reliance Jio and Airtel for marketing, deployment and network enhancement.