India tightens security and compliance rules for satellite data, creating new obstacles for SpaceX's Starlink and other broadband constellations, who seek to enter the most populous country in the world. 5 May Department of Telecommunications of the country (DoT) announced about 29 additional rules, citing national security interests, which also apply to companies, that already have licenses to provide space communication services directly to users.
The rules include a requirement to store call logs and other user data in India, as well as new interception and monitoring obligations under national law. Satellite operators must also demonstrate, what they plan to buy at least 20% ground infrastructure equipment from India within five years of commercial launch. The move comes weeks after tensions flared between India and neighboring Pakistan.
These regulations create additional challenges for the French operator Eutelsat, which is still waiting to receive spectrum to launch services in the country from its OneWeb network in low Earth orbit, despite that, which has already received India's license for global mobile personal satellite communications (GMPCS). Meanwhile, local reports prior to the DoT announcement suggested that, that the US company Starlink is close to having its GMPCS license approved after years of negotiations.
According to estimates, India's population is over 1,4 billion people – more than four times the population of the United States. This creates a huge potential for communication service providers, although the incomes of the population vary considerably. Novaspace's recently published forecast for SpaceX's financials does not foresee regulatory approval for Starlink in India within 2025 year.
Starlink intends to reach close to 6,5 million active subscribers by the end of this year, due to mobile, consumer, corporate and other broadband access customers.
Source: https://spacenews.com/indias-satellite-crackdown-brings-fresh-challenges-for-starlink-and-oneweb/