Sanjay Bhargava, the country director for India for Starlink, a satellite broadband business supported by Elon Musk, said on Tuesday that he is stepping down from his position with the firm. He stated that his final day on the job will be December 31, 2021, and that he was resigning from his position due to personal reasons. Starlink had already indicated that it will begin refunding consumers who had made pre-bookings for its satellite-broadband service in India, and this development happened shortly after that announcement.
Because of personal circumstances, I have resigned from my positions as Country Director and Chairman of the Board of Starlink India, with my final working day on December 31, 2021. In a late Tuesday evening LinkedIn post, Bhargava stated that he will have no remarks for people or the media. “Please respect my privacy,” he added.
Bhargava had joined SpaceX as the Country Director for Starlink in India on October 1, 2021, and he would continue in that role till the end of the year. He has previously stated that he collaborated with Elon Musk in the early 2000s, during the development of Musk’s digital payment system PayPal. Bhargava was a member of the service’s founding team when it first began operations.
After receiving a warning from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) that the firm had not obtained licenses to deliver services in the nation, Starlink announced that it will no longer accept pre-orders in India starting in November 2021. In their October 2021 press release, Starlink stated that the firm had already received over 5000 pre-orders by that time.
In February 2021, Starlink announced that their website will be accessible for pre-orders from people in India. There was a refundable deposit of $99, which is about Rs 7300 at the time of purchase, to secure the pre-order.
In response to the Department of Telecom’s observation that Starlink does not possess all of the necessary licenses in the nation, the government informed the Parliament that it intends to apply for all of the appropriate permits required for commercial launch in India. In an order, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) said that Starlink should refrain from soliciting business and charging associated costs in the future.
The Delhi-based NGO Telecom Watchdog has previously expressed concerns about Starlink’s technique of requesting a deposit, claiming that the Department of Transportation’s proceedings against Elon Musk’s Starlink were “extremely tardy and insufficient.” It had also declared the company’s practice of accepting pre-orders to be illegal.
Bhargava stated earlier in December that Starlink intends to submit an application for a commercial license by January 31, 2022. Individuals and the private sector received a guide from Starlink, while states and union territories received a guide from the organization. Bhargava stated that it is not yet clear when the service would be available in the country.
