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The Indian operators are the latest in a growing list of telcos to lean on SpaceX to cover hard-to-reach customers
This week, India’s two largest mobile operators, Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel, have announced partnerships with SpaceX to use its low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellation Starlink.
The deals will see the operators leverage Starlink’s roughly 7,000 satellites to deliver satellite internet services across India, potentially offering connectivity to the nearly 600 million people in India that do not have internet access.
The operators say they will begin selling Starlink terminals in their retail stores, as well as providing installation support.
“Ensuring that every Indian, no matter where they live, has access to affordable and high-speed broadband remains Jio’s top priority,” said Mathew Oommen, Group CEO, Reliance Jio. “By integrating Starlink into Jio’s broadband ecosystem, we are expanding our reach and enhancing the reliability and accessibility of highspeed broadband in this AI-driven era, empowering communities and businesses across the country.”
“This collaboration enhances our ability to bring world-class high-speed broadband to even the most remote parts of India, ensuring that every individual, business, and community has reliable internet,” Bharti Airtel’s managing director Gopal Vittal in a separate statement.
The deals represent a surprising compromise between the Indian operators and Starlink, which had been clashing over the governments satellite spectrum policy.
SpaceX had argued that the spectrum should be directly allocated to relevant parties by the regulator, as had is traditional for satellite service providers in most markets around the world. Airtel and Jio, on the other hand, said that the spectrum should be auctioned like typical mobile spectrum since they are providing telecoms services.
In October last year, the government indicated that it would directly allocate the spectrum, though the telcos continue to argue against the decision.
The move also marks a move away from the telcos’ previous satellite internet strategies. Bharti Airtel, for example, already has a satellite broadband deal with Starlink’s LEO sat rival Eutelsat, a company in which it holds a minority stake. Jio, on the other hand, launched its own satellite broadband service, JioSpaceFiber, in 2023, leveraging various satellites from SES, with whom it has a joint venture, Jio Space Technology Limited.
The exact reason behind these strategic U-turns is unclear but is likely indirectly related to SpaceX owner Elon Musk’s growing role in US government. Indian prime minister Narendra Modi met with Musk in Washington late last month, reportedly discussing numerous topics including space policy and technology.
In the same vein, the deals probably foreshadow an acceleration of regulatory approval for Starlink, which has been battling through the administrative process since 2021.
The approval process has been heavily delayed due to numerous regulatory squabbles, including earlier this year when Starlink’s technology was found to be being used by insurgents an drug smugglers in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
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