India, June 26 -- For years, the biggest question surrounding India's satellite broadband market wasn't whether global players such as Starlink, Eutelsat OneWeb and Amazon's Leo would enter the country. It was under what conditions they would be allowed to operate.

Those conditions became clearer this week after the Centre notified the Telecommunications (Authorisation for Provision of Principal Telecommunication Services) Rules, 2026, completing the transition from the country's decades-old telecom licensing regime.

The new regime omits the draft proposal that would have required satellite operators to source at least 20% of the value of their ground-segment equipment and infrastructure from India within five years of launching commerc...