Big news from India’s Department of Telecommunications (DoT)! The government has flipped its earlier plan to limit how many customers satellite internet firms can have. Companies like Elon Musk’s Starlink and Eutelsat OneWeb will no longer face a fixed user cap. Instead, they’ll be controlled by ‘capacity-based’ limits. What does this mean? It means these satellite companies can sign up as many people as their approved satellite capacity allows. If they want to serve more users, they must get new approval for more capacity from the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe). Only then can they expand. One insider revealed, “The government may charge different pricing for spectrum when companies seek fresh permissions to increase capacity.” This means raising capacity could cost extra! For example, Starlink has approval for 600 gigabit per second (Gbps) capacity with its first-generation satellites. It can onboard unlimited users, but all must fit within that 600 Gbps limit. The DoT has also told the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to hike satellite spectrum fees to 5% of adjusted gross revenue (AGR), up from TRAI’s earlier suggestion of 4%. Another twist: the government refuses to offer subsidies from the Digital Bharat Nidhi (DBN) fund to help buy expensive satellite terminals costing ₹20,000 to ₹50,000. TRAI wanted to support subsidies to boost adoption, but DoT said there’s no proper way to pay these subsidies through DBN. Why all this fuss? The government wants satellite internet to grow, especially in rural and hard-to-reach spots. But traditional telecom firms worry satellite firms might sneak into the retail broadband market and steal their customers 'through the back door.' They feared satellite companies could eat into their revenue big time. Earlier, the plan was to limit customers based on administratively allocated spectrum; if users increased, spectrum terms had to change. But legal experts and industry voices found that plan tricky to implement. TRAI noted that current satellite network capacities in India range from 0.6 terabits per second (Tbps) to 3 Tbps soon — much smaller than terrestrial networks. So, fears about satellite firms hurting telecom earnings might be exaggerated. Remember, any satellite capacity increase gets a thumbs-up from IN-SPACe first. Then, DoT allocates spectrum accordingly. To start, spectrum will only be given for fixed-location data and internet services — no mobile satellite internet allowed yet. This dynamic shift in rules shows how India is carefully balancing tech growth, rural connectivity, and business interests. Will Starlink and others zoom ahead with more users under these new guidelines? The space race for your broadband is just heating up!