Oppose Starlink’s Entry into India

CPI(M) Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement on June 7

THE Communist Party of India (Marxist) opposes the permission given by the Government of India to Elon Musk’s Starlink to commence its operations in India.

There is no transparency in the entire process of how Starlink was accorded permission to operate in our country. Starlink is a foreign corporation and handing over India’s critical infrastructure to foreign hands has serious security implications. It provides a backdoor for US agencies into our telecom system and even our strategic communications.

The number of satellite spots, particularly Low Earth Orbit spots, once allocated to Starlink cannot be taken back. This is giving up our scarce space resources to foreign entities, thereby sacrificing our country’s interests.

If the government is really interested in developing the self-reliant capacities of our country, it could have relied on the services of ISRO. India, particularly the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and C-DOT have the capability to provide the necessary equipment for the SATCOM sector. These measures would have strengthened Indian public sector and also safeguarded our security and digital sovereignty.

The entire deal is shrouded in mystery. It is reported that TRAI is charging only 4 per cent spectrum usage charges and is not collecting any upfront fees. This results in a huge loss to our exchequer and is detrimental to our interests. Even the status and details of the permission from the Indian space regulator, In-SPACe, are not yet public.

The entry of Starlink and its partnership with Ambani’s Reliance Jio and Mittal’s Bharati Airtel is going to create a virtual duopoly, which will make it very difficult for the public sector BSNL to compete. This is going to be government’s yet another attempt to finish off the BSNL, which provides cheap telecom and internet services to almost all parts of the country.

Allowing Starlink’s operations are going to harm the interests of the country in the long run. The CPI(M) demands the government to immediately rescind its decision.

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