Fake promotion alert: Starlink Mini ad misleads Indian users

A viral message promising “zero monthly fees” and “unlimited internet” through Starlink Mini is circulating widely. However, Starlink is not operational in India, and such offers are unauthorized. The government has cautioned the public against falling for such fake advertisements.

Hyderabad: With a DoT license having been obtained, the Starlink set to be commercialized within 12 months in India. Starlink becomes the third after Eutelsat OneWeb and Jio Satellite Communications to be approved with Amazon’s Kuiper still to be vetted.

According to DoT sources, Starlink envisages 600–700 Gbps of bandwidth. While the pricing has not been fixed, it had been earlier stated to be Rs 1.58 lakh for the first year and Rs 1.15 lakh in the subsequent year.

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The advertising of the launch coincided with fraudulent advertisements circulating online claiming to sell a “Starlink Mini” device with zero monthly fees and unlimited internet. These ads are fraudulent and have neither been endorsed by Starlink nor the Government of India.

Globally, the service has been operational in over 100 countries. In Asia, it is currently available in Bhutan, Bangladesh, Japan, and Malaysia, with monthly plans between Rs 2,500 and Rs 6,000.

The DoT has asked interested parties to ascertain where the sale is being offered before actually buying, as the sale shall only begin after due rollout in India.