Starlink not threat to BSNL, other telcos: MoS Communications

Starlink and satellite internet services like it would barely make a dent in the revenues of telecom operators and the state-owned telco BSNL, Minister of State for Communications Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani told presspersons on Monday. Mr. Pemmasani was speaking on the sidelines of a BSNL strategy meet, chaired by Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia. All the over thirty circle heads of BSNL were present for the day-long meet.

Mr. Pemmasani was responding to a query on whether Starlink would threaten the viability of BSNL’s own remote and rural connectivity efforts. Mr. Pemmasani said that “only around 2 million subscribers” can be connected to Starlink’s networks, due to the paucity of bandwidth that the satellite internet constellation offers. While the government has indicated in the past that satellite internet is not a threat to terrestrial telecom networks, this is the most direct allusion to date of Starlink’s limited bandwidth. “The initial cost is ₹30,000, and then there is a monthly cost ₹3000,” he said, underlining the cost disadvantage satellite internet faces in India.

Two million subscribers is a fraction of even the 4 crore fixed broadband connections in Indian households, which is itself considered underpenetrated. Over 97 crore mobile broadband connections, defined as mobile connections with at least 2Mbps speeds, have been recorded in data compiled by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.

Mr. Pemmasani did not directly respond to a question on whether BSNL’s two consecutive quarters of profit would continue — the telco’s CMD Robert J. Ravi said in a statement during the previous quarter’s earnings report that several investments underway would lead to a few unprofitable quarters. However, he said that many issues were being worked out with regard to tower rollouts and asset monetisation.

Tens of thousands of towers were being added in all districts, in a “strategic” way to ensure an even spread of coverage, he said. On asset monetisation, Mr. Pemmasani alluded to land records issues with many BSNL properties, particularly since many old allocation deeds have been lost, or never existed. There are also issues in buildings where India Post and BSNL — both under the Ministry of Communications — are operating simultaneously, requiring one to give an NOC to the other. In over half the land surveyed for monetisation, Mr. Pemmasani said that solutions like mutation had been arrived at in consultation with State governments.