India’s Ambani strikes SpaceX deal for Starlink

March 12, Kathmandu: Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Jio Platforms said Wednesday it had signed a deal with Elon Musk’s SpaceX to offer Starlink’s satellite internet service to its customers.

The announcement comes a day after rival telco Bharti Airtel signed a similar pact and months after Musk and Ambani’s companies clashed over how satellite spectrum should be awarded.

The potential launch of Starlink, which provides high-speed internet access to remote locations by low Earth orbit satellites, has seen fierce debate in India over issues ranging from predatory pricing to spectrum allocation.

But as the world’s most populous country prepares for the launch of mass satellite broadband services, SpaceX and India’s telecoms appear to have joined hands to help boost adoption.

The deal will see Jio offer “Starlink equipment in its retail outlets”, a statement said, and also see the Indian firm help “support customer service installation and activation”.

“The parties will leverage Jio’s position as the world’s largest mobile operator in terms of data traffic… to deliver reliable broadband services across the country, including the most rural and remote regions of India,” the statement said.

Jio added that the agreement was contingent on “SpaceX receiving its own authorisations to sell Starlink in India”. Indian media reports said last month that Starlink’s licence application was nearing initial regulatory approval.

Ambani’s telecom unit is also working separately to provide satellite broadband services. Jio Platforms announced a joint venture with Luxembourg’s SES in 2022 to offer broadband services using a combination of geostationary and medium earth orbit satellites.

The Jio-SpaceX agreement also comes after Musk met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Washington last month.

While the tech mogul’s business interests in India are currently limited to social media platform X, electric vehicle maker Tesla is preparing its entry into the world’s fifth-largest economy.

Tesla began hiring in India last month, issuing job advertisements for a store manager and service technicians for New Delhi and Mumbai.