As Elon Musk-run SpaceX left its affordable internet project Starlink in India, Amazon has stepped up its efforts to launch its fast and cheaper internet service called ‘Project Kuiper’ in the country. The company has posted several job openings for Project Kuiper in the country.
A vacancy in Bengaluru seeks a manager to “execute and handle the project’s licensing strategy in India and Asia-Pacific”. The other vacancy is for Business Strategy Lead, Country Development, Project Kuiper in Haryana (Gurugram).
“We are looking for a talented Business Development Strategy Lead who is ready to take on operational planning and support our strategy for our business plans in India,” the vacancy stated.
Project Kuiper is an initiative to launch a constellation of Low Earth Orbit satellites that will provide low-latency, high-speed broadband connectivity to unserved and underserved communities around the world.
The company said the “Kuiper Country Development team is focused on launching and operating the Kuiper service around the world”.
“A successful candidate will be both entrepreneurial and highly analytical, able to work extremely effectively in a matrix organization, and adept at understanding how businesses in India operate and how to create innovative, cutting-edge solutions for our customers,” Amazon said.
TechCrunch reported the latest development first.
Musk’s Starlink is currently available in over 32 countries.
Starlink registered its business in India through a local unit, Starlink Satellite Communications, aiming for a rollout by April this year.
However, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) under the Ministry of Communications, in December last year, warned Starlink to obtain the necessary authorization needed to provide satellite-based internet services in the country.
The government told Starlink to stop “booking/rendering the satellite internet service” in India without a license.
Starlink later announced that it will apply for a commercial license in India by January 31, which never happened.
Sanjay Bhargava, India director of Starlink, resigned in January due to government pressure to get the necessary authorization to provide satellite-based internet services.
Responding to a follower on Starlink in May, Musk tweeted, “We are waiting for government approval.”
Meanwhile, in April, Amazon announced the largest rocket deal in the history of the commercial space industry, signing a pact with three rocket companies for up to 83 launches under its Project Kuiper internet satellites.
The tech giant signed launch contracts with United Launch Alliance (ULA), Arianespace and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin.
The contracts total 83 launches over a five-year period, giving Amazon the capacity to deploy most of its 3,236 satellite constellation.
Like Musk’s Starlink, Amazon’s Project Kuiper aims to provide high-speed, low-latency broadband to a wide variety of customers, including individual households, schools, hospitals, businesses, government agencies, disaster relief operations, mobile operators, and other organizations operating in places without a reliable internet connection.
More than 1,000 people are now working at Amazon on Project Kuiper. Amazon said it will invest more than $10 billion in its satellite Internet network.
Starlink has launched more than 2,000 satellites since 2019 and many more will be launched in the near future.
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