Starlink Internet should not be feared, it should be welcomed openly - Worldlink Chairman

 Starlink Internet should not be feared, it should be welcomed openly - Worldlink Chairman

Worldlink Chairman Dilip Agarwal has said that Elon Musk's Starlink service should be welcomed in Nepal. Sharing the news about Starlink's trial service in India published in the Indian media Economic Times on LinkedIn, Agarwal believes that Nepal should also take it as an opportunity.

Since Starlink has the potential to provide internet to rural areas, he believes that it should be viewed as a supporting technology rather than a competitor. "We should welcome Starlink in Nepal. Using the technology it has brought, we can provide services to places where internet is still not available easily and conveniently," he said.

Currently, the monthly fee for Starlink in India is estimated to be between 3,000 and 3,500 Indian rupees. Which is much more expensive than the existing fiber broadband service. In addition, the price of the special equipment required to run Starlink Internet is estimated to be between 30,000 and 35,000 Indian rupees (48,000 to 56,000 Nepalese rupees).

In urban areas of India, various companies are offering fiber broadband packages starting at around Rs 400 (640 Nepali rupees). Therefore, India Ratings and Research estimates that Starlink Internet will not have a significant impact on the urban market of India.

Starlink has not been able to enter Nepal due to legal obstacles. The existing Telecommunications Act allows foreign investment up to 80 percent. However, Starlink wants to operate internet services in Nepal with a company that is 100 percent owned by it, without giving a single percent share to anyone else. Instead, Starlink seems willing to make others distributors for selling equipment.

Worldlink has been lobbying for 2 years to bring Starlink internet to Nepal

Nepal's largest internet service provider, Worldlink, has been lobbying to bring Starlink. At an event organized in the capital on Thursday, the company's Managing Director Dilip Agrawal said that he is eager to bring Starlink to Nepal.

"Starlink's service is very necessary for Nepal," said Chairman Agrawal, "I have been lobbying for Starlink for the past two years. I have also urged Starlink to operate its service in Nepal as soon as possible."

Agrawal said that Starlink's service is essential in remote areas of Nepal. He further said, “Because Starlink is not useful for urban customers living in Kathmandu, but for customers in Phoksundo. Starlink can provide good and reliable service in places where we cannot build any physical infrastructure, lay fiber, or install towers. And, Worldlink’s objective for 29 years has been to provide good and reliable service. If Starlink can provide that service, it would be great. If Worldlink can provide it, it would be great.”

Starlink has been in the news in Nepal recently. Nepal’s Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli recently released a photo of himself talking to Elon Musk, the owner of satellite internet service provider Starlink. Even before that, a representative of the company had come and presented a demo before Prime Minister Oli.

What is Starlink?

Starlink is a satellite internet service provided by Elon Musk’s company SpaceX. Generally, internet service providers provide internet service by laying underground cables or using mobile towers. However, Starlink uses a network of satellites orbiting the Earth to provide internet service to its customers.

Starlink's main objective is to provide high-speed internet service to rural areas where broadband internet service is not available and to places where it is difficult to build towers.

Starlink's internet service does not work like normal broadband. It does not have to rely on millions of kilometers of long cables. Starlink provides internet service directly from space. This makes high-speed internet service easily accessible even in remote areas.

However, some other companies have also provided satellite internet services. But the companies providing these services use satellites that are very far from Earth. This slows down the internet speed. And, it is difficult to get high-speed internet due to delays in data transmission.

Starlink's satellites are very close to Earth. This allows Starlink to provide high-speed internet service to users. Another feature of this is that it can provide high-speed internet even on a flying ship.

Broadband companies use fiber optic cables to send data. This makes it easy to provide internet service in cities and villages using such cables. However, it is difficult and expensive to deliver cables to remote areas and mountainous terrain. Starlink's service is useful in such places.