Our Bureau
New Delhi
This Thursday, on August 7th, the Communication Minister of the state, Dr Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar addressed the Parliament, stating that the satellite internet provider Starlink will store the data it collects within the country. This data will include data collected by the Elon Musk-owned company’s satellite internet operations like the network information and traffic details.
Through these claims, Dr. Sekhar has ensured the country that the domestic user traffic will remain within national boundaries and would not be copied to overseas servers that might pose threat to the citizen’s privacy. He also highlighted that the mirroring of this data to any system/server located outside will be strictly prohibited.
Dr Sekhar addressed the Rajya Sabha through a written reply stating, “Security conditions, inter-alia, include the establishment of earth station gateway(s) in India for providing satellite-based communication services with no user traffic originating from or destined for India to be routed through any gateway located outside India, no copying and decryption of the Indian data outside the country, and the Indian user traffic is not to be mirrored to any system/server located abroad.”
The Department of Telecommunications has also contacted the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) for some recommendations on the terms and conditions for assigning spectrum, including pricing, for satellite-based communication services. The minister has highlighted that the new satellite-based services will definitely generate employment in the country and help it grow further.
“Satellite-based communication services is an upcoming area and, as any new economic activity would do, it is also expected to generate employment in the country, as it involves, inter alia, the installation, operation and maintenance of the telecom network including user terminal equipment,” the minister said.
