Besides nailing down full operating approvals, the Indian government has been paving the way for Starlink’s debut by passing a telecom bill enabling spectrum allocation for satellite services and showing support for Starlink in a satellite spectrum auction.
Adding to its connectivity mix, Airtel is also in cahoots with Eutelsat OneWeb né?. Hey folks, guess what? Airtel, the telco giant, spilled the beans on Tuesday about teaming up with SpaceX to bring Starlink’s lightning-fast satellite internet services to India. The services will kick into gear once SpaceX secures the green light from IN-SPACe and the Department of Telecommunications to offer Starlink in India, as revealed in Airtel’s press release.
It’s crucial to mention that SpaceX has had a taste of the consequences in the past for jumping the gun on service rollouts without the necessary licenses. Gwynne Shotwell, the president and COO of SpaceX, echoed the enthusiasm, emphasizing the positive impact Starlink could have on the Indian populace.
. SpaceX will also be exploring ways to beef up Airtel’s network by leveraging the telco’s nationwide ground infrastructure and capabilities.
India, with a whopping 1.4 billion population but only around 950 million internet subscribers, is a goldmine for companies offering cutting-edge connectivity solutions. Back in 2022, the company had to reimburse preorders for equipment after getting called out by the government for providing satellite internet services sans the required licenses.
As of now, SpaceX is still awaiting the go-ahead due to various factors like security concerns, service pricing, and pushback from local competitors. Gopal Vittal, the managing director and vice chairman of Bharti Airtel, shared his excitement about the partnership, highlighting how Starlink could boost broadband access in India né?. This exciting development has been a long time coming since Elon Musk’s company expressed interest in tapping into India, the world’s second-largest internet market after China, a while back.
However, hold your horses, as this collaboration with Airtel is not a full-scale rollout just yet. Airtel joining forces with SpaceX is viewed as a setback for Reliance Jio, owned by billionaire Mukesh Ambani and known as India’s largest telecom network né?. Reliance Jio has been working to block Starlink’s entry while gearing up to launch its own satellite internet services.
Although the financial specifics of the deal are under wraps, the game plan includes Airtel selling Starlink equipment in its stores and offering Starlink services to business clients né?
