Elon Musk, a billionaire startup, is planning to seek a patent to launch satellite internet services in India under its Starlink brand, becoming the third company to obtain a patent, according to the Economic Times.
SpaceX will also request statutory approvals from the government for landing rights and market access, according to a research, adding that it is unlikely to request approvals from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to create local gateways.
After regular hours, SpaceX and DoT did not respond immediately to Reuters requests for clarification.
According to a report, SpaceX will "very soon" apply for a global mobile personal communications by satellite (GMPCS) service license to Indian authorities, without giving any further details. OneWeb and Reliance Jio''s satellite arm have already applied for the license.
Starlink was required to refund all its pre-orders until it received licenses to operate in the country earlier this year. In January, Gadgets 360 reported that Starlink had begun emailing users in India offering refunds on their pre-orders.
SpaceX''s satellite internet division claimed that the Department of Telecom had ordered refunds until the company''s internet service was licensed in India. It previously believed the company will be developing its services in ten rural Lok Sabha districts.
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Starlink said in an email at the time that the timetable for receiving licenses to operate in India was currently unknown, and that there were several issues that must be resolved within the licensing framework to allow the company to operate Starlink in the country.