A top company official said on Friday that Elon Musk's SpaceX satellite broadband arm, Starlink, is planning to explore collaboration with telecom companies in India to expand broadband services in the country, with a focus on rural areas.

Sanjay Bhargava, Starlink Country Director India at SpaceX, said that discussions with broadband service providers will begin once the Niti Aayog identifies the 12 Phase-1 aspirational districts, and the company will assess the various players' and the USOF's interest levels (universal service obligation fund).

In India, Starlink claims to have received over 5,000 pre-orders. In the beta stage, the company is charging a deposit of USD 99 (roughly Rs 7,350) per customer and claims to deliver data speeds of 50-150 megabits per second. There have been reports that Starlink is considering manufacturing terminals to provide satellite broadband services in India, but Bhargava says the company is not actively considering doing so.

'Will donate USD 6 billion if you have plan to remove hunger ...' Says Elon Musk

Elon Musk says Tesla's Cybertruck will have removable side mirrors. Is it legal?

Elon Musk earned record Rs 2,71,577 lakh crores in just 24 hours