Elon Musk's Starlink Is Now In Argentina

Elon Musk shared this latest update on X. Starlink is now available in the seventh nation in South America.

Starlink is nearing the approval to start its operations in India.

Source : Getty

Tech billionaire and X boss, Elon Musk, on Thursday, announced that Starlink (a satellite constellation system operated by SpaceX) is now available in Argentina. With this latest addition, Starlink is now available in the seventh country in South America and 72nd in the world where people can access high-speed, low-latency internet from space.

Musk while tweeting about this wrote, "Starlink now in Argentina!"

Starlink now in Argentina! https://t.co/xv7LgNL1L9

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 27, 2024

Starlink May Soon Be Available In India

Starlink is nearing the approval to start its operations in India, overcoming regulatory challenges along the way. The awaited green light from the Indian government is subject to Starlink providing clarity on its ownership structure to the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade. Once this clarification is provided, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is anticipated to grant Starlink a letter of intent.

After obtaining the necessary authorisations, Starlink is positioned to secure a global mobile personal communication by satellite services (GMPCS) license, alongside Jio Satellite Communications and OneWeb, as per its 2022 application. However, the approval from DoT won't immediately trigger satellite-based broadband services. Additional sanction from the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre is mandatory for setting up earth stations.

While awaiting spectrum allocation from DoT to launch their services, Starlink, OneWeb, and Jio's satellite division are in line for spectrum allocation. Concurrently, Amazon's Project Kuiper is also pursuing a GMPCS license in India.

Previously, Starlink encountered challenges in India, including government concerns in 2021 about pre-orders for terminals without proper permissions. This led to fee refunds and the resignation of Sanjay Bhargava, Starlink's India operations head.

The pricing for Starlink's service in India has not been disclosed officially. However, projections indicate an initial yearly expense of around Rs 1,58,000, with a subsequent decrease to Rs 1,15,000 from the second year, including a 30 per cent tax.