Florida-based satellite communications company Spacecoin is set to enter the Indian market later this year, offering low-bandwidth internet services priced at under Rs 200 per month. The company aims to provide cheap satellite-based connectivity in remote and underserved regions, directly targeting areas where traditional telecom infrastructure is difficult to deploy.
Unlike Starlink, which offers high-speed satellite broadband, Spacecoin is focusing on basic internet services such as financial access, messaging, and web browsing. The company's founder, Tae Oh, told Moneycontrol that Spacecoin plans to operate through a partnership model with Indian telecom providers rather than offering services directly to consumers.
"We are in talks with several telecom companies in India, doing the co-engineering of the service. We are also interested in working with the existing telcos to provide our satellite services to their users. We were getting a lot of positive feedback from those telcos about the demand in people of India in remote areas," Tae Oh said, as quoted in the report. The company expects to finalise its first telecom partnership in India later this year.
"Indian telcos are interested in Spacecoin's satellite technology to compete with SpaceX's Starlink internet service," Tae Oh reportedly added. "They also want to compete with SpaceX to provide good enough coverage for people who cannot be serviced. We don't plan to go directly to customers in India. We are hoping to work with existing telcos."
The service is expected to start at approximately USD 2 (Rs 170) per month, with pricing increasing based on data consumption. Billing will be handled by local telecom companies, who will pay Spacecoin for data transmission over its satellite network.
Spacecoin's India launch comes amid rising interest from global players in the satellite communications (satcom) market. Starlink, Amazon's Project Kuiper, Eutelsat OneWeb, and Globalstar are all eyeing the Indian market. Some, including Eutelsat OneWeb and Jio's joint venture with SES, have already received necessary clearances from IN-SPACe and the Department of Telecommunications. Starlink has signed distribution tie-ups with Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio.
Spacecoin launched its first satellite with SpaceX in December 2024 and plans to deploy three more in October 2025. The company envisions building a constellation of low-Earth orbit (LEO) nanosatellites to offer global coverage. It expects to provide satcom services across the globe with fewer than 10 satellites.
"About 10 or fewer satellites can be a good starting point to let people experience the service. After reaching ten satellites, we can start scaling. Hundreds of thousands of satellites will be in the project," Tae Oh said, according to the report.
The satellite network will be part of a blockchain-enabled Decentralised Physical Infrastructure Network (DePIN), allowing other entities — including telecom firms, militaries, and governments — to launch and operate their own satellites within the Spacecoin framework, sharing in data transmission revenues.
"So we're planning to be the first one to deploy the servicing satellite constellation but we can foresee other telecommunications companies, military and governments deploying their constellation to be part of this network and share all those satellites together," he reportedly said.
India, Nigeria, and Indonesia have been identified as key early markets in the first phase for Spacecoin, given their large unconnected populations. The move into satellite internet stems from the company's earlier experience in fintech and digital bank, where it encountered barriers due to lack of internet access in target regions.
"While we were working on our mission to bank the unbanked, we learned that many of the unbanked population were also unconnected and if you're not connected to the Internet, there is no way for a fintech solution or crypto solution to help you financially or technologically. That's why we entered into satcom," Tae Oh explained, according to the report.
The cost of launching and building satellites has dropped significantly thanks to players like SpaceX, making it feasible for smaller firms to build their own networks. "The cost of launching satellites and building satellites has gotten low enough for smaller companies to start launching their satellite, and that started us to build satellites and research more," the executive reportedly said.
While existing solutions like Starlink offer internet at a premium cost — with hardware alone priced around USD 600 and monthly plans at USD 150 — Spacecoin's low-cost, low-bandwidth model is designed specifically for affordability in emerging markets, where per capita incomes are lower.
While Starlink's infrastructure is optimised for high-bandwidth applications like 4K video streaming, Spacecoin is focused on providing low-bandwidth services.
"By targeting lower-bandwidth use cases, Spacecoin can optimise its network for a higher number of simultaneous connections rather than higher data speeds," he reportedly said.
Source: https://telecomtalk.info/spacecoin-telcos-launch-satellite-internet-in-india/993959/
