Satellite broadband players may face tough battle to attract subs: Analysts

Kolkata: Bharti Group-backed OneWeb and Elon Musk’s SpaceX Technologies, which are keen to enter India’s satellite internet space, are likely to face tough times in grabbing broadband users as the country already has 63% 4G penetration, offers the lowest mobile data rates in the world and sees high data consumption levels at 12 GB per month per user, say analysts.

Satellite broadband services, they said, are likely to remain much more expensive than both mobile and wired broadband since India is among the 30-odd countries worldwide that continue to limit access to satellite services.

CLSA said a combination of “the world’s lowest telco average revenue per user (ARPU) at $2 (Rs 150 approx) and the lowest mobile data rates at $0.1 per GB in India vs $1.4-$8 in the UK/US will make it a challenge for operators of global satellite constellations (read: OneWeb and SpaceX) to target incremental broadband subscribers in the country”.