Bengaluru: Elon Musk’s satellite internet company, Starlink, has taken its first major step toward establishing operations in India, choosing Mumbai as its hub as it gears up to launch satellite broadband services.
The company has leased a 1,294 sq. ft. office on the ground floor of the Boomerang commercial complex in suburban Chandivali, according to the lease document that has been seen by Mint.
“The furnished office will be used by Starlink’s legal team,” said a person familiar with the company’s plans, asking not to be named, adding that the team will move into the office in November. “Before this, Starlink had taken up a couple of seats in a co-working centre in Powai nearby, for a month or so.”
The lease, valid for a five-year period, started on 14 October, as per documents accessed by real estate data platform Propstack. The property has been developed by city builder Kanakia Spaces Realty Pvt Ltd.
“Though Kanakia developed Boomerang, the space has been strata-sold to many individuals. Starlink leased it from one such owner. The company didn’t want a lock-in period in the lease, so it can move out at a three-month notice period. So, they have taken up the space on a trial basis,” the person above added.
Strata sales in office buildings happen when a developer or owner sells it to individuals or companies, instead of leasing the space themselves.
Starlink has leased the space from one Nikunj Sheth, the lease document showed, for a monthly rent of around ₹3.52 lakh, and paid a deposit of ₹31.7 lakh. There will be a 5% escalation in rent every year.
Mint’s queries to Starlink remained unanswered till press time. Property advisory JLL India, the transaction advisor, declined to comment.
US-based Starlink plans to set up nine gateway earth stations across India, in cities such as Mumbai, Noida, Kolkata, Chandigarh and Lucknow, ahead of its satellite communication services launch in the country, recent reports have said.
“Mumbai will play a strategic role for Starlink’s India operations as they push high speed satellite connectivity,” said Raja Seetharaman, co-founder of Propstack. “Potentially, this could transform connectivity for millions by overcoming limitations of fibre and mobile networks.”
Starlink is putting in place the required infrastructure to start its satellite internet services in the country. The company will compete with the likes of Eutelsat OneWeb and Jio Satellite, who have also got the government clearance to start satellite internet services.
All these companies await the allocation of spectrum for satellite broadband, on which the department of telecommunications (DoT) and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) are working, Mint reported in October.
