The data collected by Starlink’s satellite internet operations in India, including network information and traffic details, will be stored within the country, as stated by Communications Minister of State Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani in Parliament on Thursday. He clarified in the Rajya Sabha that domestic user traffic will remain within national boundaries and won’t be copied to overseas servers.“Security conditions, inter-alia, include the establishment of earth station gateway(s) in India for providing satellite-based communication services with no user traffic originating from or destined for India to be routed through any gateway located outside India, no copying and decryption of the Indian data outside the country, and the Indian user traffic is not to be mirrored to any system/server located abroad,” Pemmasani said, as quoted by Economic Times.Starlink, based in the United States, has become the third satellite communications provider to receive full authorisation for commercial space-based broadband services in India, following Bharti-backed Eutelsat OneWeb and Reliance Jio-SES JV. The company secured its GMPCS licence last month. IN-SPACe has permitted Starlink’s Gen 1 constellation, comprising 4,408 LEO satellites capable of delivering 600 Gbps throughput in India, to provide services.The minister highlighted that the satellite communications sector, being an emerging field, is anticipated to create job opportunities. He further noted that employment generation would occur through various activities, including installation, operation and maintenance of telecommunications networks and user equipment. Starlink’s next steps involve obtaining spectrum allocation and establishing ground infrastructure. Additionally, other major global satellite communications companies, including Amazon Kuiper and Globalstar, Apple’s satellite partner, are currently seeking regulatory approvals in India,according to ET report.
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