SpaceX owned satellite broadband company, Starlink Broadband will start providing services in India by next year. The company’s website is allowing users in India to ‘reserve’ a connection by paying a $99 deposit right away. It is not available for every region of the country yet, but users in select regions can ‘reserve’ it. The exact timeline for the launch of Starlink’s services is unknown, but the company says that it will start providing coverage in several areas of India by 2022. Adding to this, the pre-booking is for limited users only and is subject to a first-come, first-serve basis.
Starlink Broadband Deposit Can be Refunded if User Wants to Opt-Out
The ’terms and conditions’ on the company’s page highlights that the deposit made will go towards the Starlink equipment kit or kits provided by SpaceX. In case the user wants to opt-out of his/her priority position, he/she will get an option to claim a full refund from the company.
However, the company has highlighted that by making a deposit, it is not guaranteed that the user will receive the connection. Adding to this, the service availability dates can change as well. The user will have to enter a few of his/her personal details before making the deposit payment. Details such as First name, last name, phone number, email ID, and billing information will have to be mandatorily provided. Users pre-booking a connection will get a Starlink kit which includes a tripod, phased-arrayed satellite dish, and a Wi-Fi router. The company is targeting to provide satellite broadband internet throughout the world. It aims to eventually deliver 1 Gbps downloading/uploading speed to its users. At present, the company provides up to 150 Mbps speeds, but that has been confirmed to double to 300 Mbps through testing. The latency on the connection is expected to be between 20ms and 40ms, depending on the user’s location.
