Starlink Satellite Internet is Open for Pre-Booking

By Rounak Jain

The Starlink satellite internet service is expected to be available in 2022

• The Starlink satellite internet service is coming to India in 2022.
  
• Starlink has started accepting pre-bookings, with a fully refundable deposit of $99 (approx. ₹7,300).
  
• If you want early access to the Starlink internet service, you can pre-book using a debit or credit card.
  
• Currently, Starlink promises speeds of 50-150 Mbps, but this could be doubled to 300 Mbps by the end of 2021.

Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet service is coming to India and you can now pre-book your connection. This comes after the debut of Tesla’s electric vehicles in India was confirmed in December last year.

The Starlink service is operated by SpaceX, an aerospace company. SpaceX was founded in 2002 and was founded by Musk, who also owns US-based Tesla, Inc.

Starlink satellite internet launch date in India

According to information available on its website, Starlink is targeting its India launch sometime in 2022.

The exact launch time frame is not available right now, but you can head over to the Starlink website and pre-book your connection right now.

Starlink availability in India

Most of the major cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and others seem to be covered. For exact coverage details and to see if your address is covered, you can head over to the website and enter your details to see if you can pre-book now.

Here is how much Starlink will cost in India

Starlink has started accepting pre-bookings for Indian addresses. The price has been set at $99 (approx. ₹7,300) towards deposit for the service. This payment is towards the Starlink equipment that will have to be installed at your address to access the internet service.

Once you make the payment, your priority access gets reserved in your location. This deposit is fully refundable, so even if you change your mind after paying, you can still get your money back.

Starlink accepts payments via debit and credit cards, as well as Apple Pay. However, Apple Pay is currently not available in India.

What will be the internet speeds offered by Starlink?

During the current beta testing phase, Starlink is offering speeds between 50-150 Mbps. However, Elon Musk has revealed that speeds will be doubled to 300 Mbps by the end of 2021.

Musk also said that the Starlink project will cover “most of the Earth” by the end of 2021.

Should you subscribe to the Starlink internet service?

This depends on where you are located, and whether you have access to reliable wired or wireless broadband services.

If there are no decent broadband options available in your area, the Starlink satellite internet service might make sense in your case.

Broadband access remains an issue in India even now, with there being a little over 22 million wired broadband users in the country. Contrast this to mobile subscribers, which numbered over 115 million, according to data obtained from the latest TRAI report.

A World Bank report has revealed that an increase of 10% in broadband penetration is likely to boost the gross domestic product (GDP) by 1.38% in developing countries like India.