Starlink’s application is held up over mandatory ownership disclosure rules. The company has said the US privacy laws bar it from revealing full shareholding details of parent SpaceX because it is an unlisted company and instead gave a declaration that none of its shareholders are from countries that share a land border with India.
But the government is now cautious about accepting such declarations because Verizon last year gave one which later proved to be wrong, people cited above said.
While applying for renewing its internet service provider’s (ISP) licence last year, Verizon Communications India had “given a declaration – similar to what Elon Musk-owned Starlink has done now for getting a satellite communication licence – that none of its entities have shareholders from India’s neighbouring countries sharing a land border,” one of them said.
But the government later found out that the US company has some shareholding from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Hong Kong, which is part of China, in its entities, and told Verizon to apply through the government approval route for renewing its ISP licence.
“Even though the shareholding from these countries is less than 1%…still Verizon Communications India was advised to come through the government route, which it has agreed to follow,” the person said. An ET query sent to Verizon Communications India remained unanswered at the time of going to press on Thursday.The Department for Promotion of Industry & Internal Trade (DPIIT) in 2020 had amended the foreign direct investment (FDI) policy to make prior government approval mandatory for inflows from countries sharing a land border with India through Press Note 3. It mandates foreign companies investing in sectors such as defence and communications to submit complete shareholding details to the government. The companies need to notify the government also in the case of any change in shareholding.Officials said in the backdrop of the Verizon Communications case, the government has become cautious in taking declarations or undertakings on shareholding for granting a licence.
The Starlink application for the global mobile personal communication by satellite services (GMPCS) licence is thus pending. The department of telecommunications (DoT) is now doubly cautious and has sought DPIIT’s advice on whether to accept Starlink’s declaration. Bharti Enterprises-backed Eutelsat OneWeb and Reliance Jio’s satcom venture already have the GMPCS permit to offer satellite broadband services. Jeff Bezos-led Amazon, too, has applied for a licence for its Project Kuiper satellite broadband venture.
