New Delhi: Billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Jio Platforms has struck a deal with SpaceX, the aerospace company led by Elon Musk, to bring Starlink’s broadband internet services to India, a surprise move that follows months of bickering over how Musk’s venture should be granted spectrum rights.
The deal with Musk – considered the right-hand-man of US President Donald Trump – comes a day after telecom tycoon Sunil Bharti Mittal’s Bharti Airtel signed a similar partnership deal with SpaceX.
Over the past few months, rivals Jio and Airtel had come together to demand an auction for awarding spectrum for satellite services in India as they feared an administrative allocation would give Musk airwaves at a price lower than what they had paid via auctions in the past.
This agreement “is subject to SpaceX receiving its own authorisations to sell Starlink in India”, Jio Platforms – the company that holds telecom and digital properties of Reliance Industries Ltd – said in a statement on Wednesday.
Jio will offer Starlink equipment in retail outlets and online stores.
It will also support customer installation and activation on devices. Jio and SpaceX will also explore how they can boost each other’s offerings.
“Through this agreement, the parties will leverage Jio’s position as the world’s largest mobile operator in terms of data traffic and Starlink’s position as the world’s leading low earth orbit satellite constellation operator to deliver reliable broadband services across the country, including the most rural and remote regions of India,” the statement said.
Starlink is the world’s largest low-earth-orbit (LEO) constellation operated by SpaceX.
On Tuesday, Bharti Airtel announced that it is entering into an agreement with SpaceX to bring Starlink’s high-speed Internet service to India on a non-exclusive basis. Bharti already partners with Eutelsat OneWeb, the second-largest LEO constellation.
Similarly, Jio Platforms has a joint venture with SES, a leading global satellite-based content connectivity solutions provider.
Jio Space Technology Limited, where Jio holds 51% and SES 49%, is to use multi-orbit space networks that are a combination of geostationary (GEO) and medium earth orbit (MEO) satellite constellations capable of delivering multi-gigabit links and capacity to enterprises, mobile backhaul and retail customers across the length and breadth of India and neighbouring regions.
Starlink can help Bharti and Jio provide connectivity to previously underserved areas, especially areas currently with limited to no coverage.
The deals by Airtel and Jio come weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Musk in Washington to discuss issues, including space, mobility, technology and innovation. During the trip, the Prime Minister also met Trump whose administration has upped the ratchet on tariffs against various countries, including India.
Ambani, chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries Ltd, was one of the select few invitees at the Trump’s oath-taking ceremony.
Starlink is awaiting regulatory approvals to launch Starlink services in India. Key to that is meeting the prescribed security norms. Also, such companies are required to secure a Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite (GMPCS) licence and space regulator IN-SPACe’s approval, along with the allocation of spectrum from the Indian government, to offer satellite-based voice and data services in the country.
The Musk-led satellite company has reportedly agreed to meet the Indian government’s data localisation and security requirements, which had previously been a significant point of contention.
Eutelsat OneWeb, in which Airtel is the single-largest shareholder with a 21.2% share, and Jio’s joint venture with SES have already secured GMPCS licenses and IN-SPACe approvals.
Starlink, currently, operates over 6,000 LEO satellites, while Amazon’s Kuiper project plans to deploy 3,236 satellites, starting in early 2025.
