India tells public to shun Musk-backed Starlink until it gets licence

FILE PHOTO: SpaceX founder and Tesla CEO Elon Musk speaks on a screen during the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain, June 29, 2021. REUTERS/Nacho Doce/File Photo

NEW DELHI (Reuters) -The Indian government advised people against subscribing to

Starlink Internet Services, a division of billionaire Elon Musk's SpaceX aerospace company, as it does not have a licence to operate in the country.

A government statement issued late on Friday said Starlink had been told to comply with regulations and refrain from "booking/rendering the satellite internet services in India with immediate effect".

Starlink registered its business in India on Nov.1. It has begun advertising, and according to the government, it has started pre-selling its service.

Responding to a Reuters email, Starlink said: "No comment for now".

A growing number of companies are launching small satellites as part of a low-Earth orbiting network to provide low-latency broadband internet services around the world, with a particular focus on remote areas that terrestrial internet infrastructure struggles to reach.

(Reporting by Nidhi Verma; additional reporting by Aditi Shah, Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)