According to the regulatory authorities, the process of giving permission to operate services in India to American billionaire Elon Musk's company Starlink has reached its final stage. Starlink, which provides satellite-based broadband services, said that it has started official service operations in Bhutan, another country in South Asia, just two weeks ago.

In China, another neighbor of Nepal, the market of high-speed space-based Internet service companies like 'Spacecell', which is invested by the government, is expanding rapidly.

In Nepal, Elon Musk's Starlink has been trying to get approval for service operation for two years. Recently, the employees of the company demanded to remove the political and practical obstacles in a meeting with the regulator Nepal Telecommunication Authority.

Earlier in the first week of November, Musk himself said that he wanted to deliver the Starlink service to the peak of Everest in a virtual conversation with Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli . Starlink's Global Licensing Head Rebecca Slick Hunter's team also presented a 'demo' of how Starlink works in front of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, Prime Minister's Office, Telecommunication Authority leadership.

According to a high-ranking employee of the Office of the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers, the company's representatives are in constant discussion with the regulatory body and the government about service expansion. The employees say that there is geopolitical pressure in Nepal due to the rapid expansion of services in neighboring countries, but the main problem arises because the existing telecommunication policy and law mandates a minimum of 20 percent indigenous participation in attracting foreign investment.

"Starlink has not implemented a business model with local partners in any country," said the official, "he wants to operate the service with his 100 percent investment". However, we have said that 20 percent of local partners should be included according to the existing telecommunication policy and law. In his conversation with Musk, Prime Minister Oli responded that such new initiatives will be welcomed with a red carpet, but a decision will be taken after an internal study at the first stage.

In the discussion with the representative of Starlink, the Telecommunication Authority leadership was of the opinion that even though satellite internet is important because it is suitable for the geography of Nepal, the service operation license can be provided in accordance with the existing law . "This technology is important considering the high hilly and mountainous parts of Nepal, its contribution cannot be ignored," said Pradeep Paudyal, assistant spokesperson of the authority, "but to provide telecommunication services within Nepal, it should be provided within the existing laws/regulations". This is the opinion of the authority that service providers with foreign investment should accept the arrangement of 80 percent foreign and 20 percent local investment. The Economic Times reports that Starlink has accepted most of the regulatory conditions and submitted the necessary documents. The space regulator 'Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Center' (IN-SPACE) has said that the process of allowing Starlink to operate the service has reached its final stage. After approval of in-space, Starlink has to obtain service provider license and necessary spectrum from Department of Telecom to start service in India . Starlink has applied for a Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite (GAPCS) license.

Starlink has agreed to the provisions of Indian law regarding moving or relocating user terminals . Accordingly, no user can move the terminal by himself . A user terminal is a satellite dish or umbrella, which is required to gain internet access to Starlink's network. The company provides such an umbrella to every user who takes satellite based internet service . It acts as a communication point between the user's device and the satellite network .

"Starlink has agreed to set up its network control and monitoring center in India," The Economic Times wrote, quoting a Telecom Department source, "and has ensured that data will not be routed through internet gateways in any country bordering India." Currently, Musk's company has no gateways in India's border countries. However, when such gateways are established in the future, the company has promised that Indian data will not be routed through those gateways. Starlink has not agreed to establish surveillance zones along the entire international border of India and to provide services in certain areas of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

In addition to the regulatory provisions, there has been a difference of opinion regarding spectrum distribution between broadband service providers in India through satellites such as Starlink and Amazon's Project Kuiper and existing telecommunication service providers such as Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea . Reliance, Airtel and Vodafone have been of the opinion that the spectrum should be distributed through the auction promotion method . Starlink and Amazon have asked to provide the auction bagger .

Internet satellite in other South Asian countries

Starlink service has been available in Bhutan since December 2014, but the company officially announced its launch two weeks ago . On February 15, the national daily Quincel mentioned that the Bhutanese internet market has reached a new mode through an editorial. However, Kuinsel is of the view that the coming days will confirm whether Starlink will only benefit the wealthy or bring about a real transformation in the telecommunications market.

Even if Starlink enters the Bhutanese market, there is a concern that consumers will not be able to benefit due to high prices . However, the arrival of Starlink is expected to challenge the 'duopoly' of two government telecommunication service providers, Bhutan Telecom and Tasi Cell.

Maldives was the first among other South Asian countries to grant an Internet Service Provider (ISP) license to Starlink in 2023. By organizing an event at the National Center for Information Technology, Starlink announced the launch of Starlink Services Maldives in Maldives. The company has mentioned on its website that Starlink service will be available in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka by 2025. It is mentioned that regulatory approval is pending in Pakistan and India. In Nepal, the notice "Service date is unknown" is visible on the global map on Starlink's website.

An official of the Prime Minister's Office claims that Nepal is studying the amendment of the telecommunications law or other policy arrangements to allow not only Starlink but also other companies to provide satellite-based internet services. According to him, Chinese companies have also discussed with Nepal government for such services. "Not only Starlink, other companies are also willing to come," he said, "how to attract investment is being studied." As this is a new technology, there is also an opinion that existing technology cannot be treated the same way.