Jio announces deal to bring Starlink to India just hours after similar Airtel partnership
Jio Platforms, the subsidiary of India’s conglomerate Reliance Industries and the country’s largest telecom operator, Wednesday announced a partnership with Elon Musk’s SpaceX to offer Starlink’s satellite broadband internet services to its customers in India.
Under the agreement, which is subject to regulatory approvals, Jio and SpaceX will explore using Starlink to extend the telco’s offerings, while Jio will sell Starlink equipment through its retail outlets and online storefronts, the telco said in a press statement.
Jio will also help “establish a mechanism to support customer service installation and activation” for Starlink equipment, it said.
Earlier Wednesday, Airtel, India’s second-biggest telco, announced a similar partnership with SpaceX to offer Starlink through its channels. The Airtel partnership is also subject to SpaceX’s regulatory approvals in the country, which are in process with IN-SPACe and the Department of Telecommunications.
As part of the joint announcement, Jio said it plans to offer SpaceX’s internet services to enterprise customers nationwide through its channels. Additionally, Jio and SpaceX are set to evaluate “other complementary areas of cooperation” to use their infrastructure in the world’s most populous nation.
“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,” said Mathew Oomen, Group CEO, Reliance Jio, in a prepared statement.
This is not SpaceX’s first effort to enter India, with its more than 950 million subscribers. Musk’s company tried to explore the market earlier but had to refund preorders of its Starlink equipment in 2022 after the Indian government called it out for “booking/rendering the satellite internet service” before getting the necessary approvals.
The latest moves come just weeks after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the U.S., meeting with Musk and President Donald Trump and signing a deal for a global subsea cable project.
Alongside the SpaceX partnership, Jio has been working on its own satellite-based broadband through its Starlink-rival service, JioSpaceFiber, resulting from a joint venture with SES. The telco also tested that service in four districts in 2023 and received its In-SPACe approval last year. Similarly, Airtel has been exploring satellite internet through OneWeb for some time.
It will be interesting to see how Jio and Airtel support Starlink’s rollout when it happens in India, given these other satellite broadband businesses. The two telcos also opposed the Indian government’s move late last year to ease Starlink’s entry into the market via administrative means instead of through an auction process, which is typically how spectrum is allocated.
For now, at least, everyone appears to be on the same page. “We are looking forward to working with Jio and receiving authorization from the Government of India to provide more people, organizations and businesses with access to Starlink’s highspeed internet services,” said Gwynne Shotwell, president and chief operating officer of SpaceX, as part of the announcement.
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