Elon Musk’s Starlink gets license nod in India as Airtel, Jio collaborate with SpaceX for internet services
Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet service received licence from India. According to Communications minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, it has opened “next frontier of connectivity” for India. This comes after Airtel, Jio teaming up with SpaceX in March to provide internet services to customers.
Scindia held a “productive meeting” with Gwynne Shotwell, president and chief operating officer of Starlink owner SpaceX. Shotwell “appreciated the license granted to Starlink, calling it a great start to the journey”, the minister stated on X.
What is Starlink?
Starlink is a satellite-based internet service created by SpaceX, the American aerospace and space transportation firm founded in 2002 by Elon Musk, the world’s richest man. Using satellite technology, it delivers high-speed, low-latency broadband internet across the globe and is often aptly referred to as broadband beamed from the skies.
It employs the world’s largest low Earth orbit or LEO constellation (550 km above Earth) unlike conventional satellite services that depend on distant geostationary satellites.
The launch of Starlink, which offers high-speed internet access to remote locations using low Earth orbit satellites, led to outrage in India over issues like predatory pricing and spectrum allocation.
Airtel and Jio partnership
In March, two of India’s largest telecom providers, namely Jio Platforms and its competitor Bharti Airtel announced partnerships with SpaceX to offer Starlink internet services to their customers. However, tensions have arisen between SpaceX owner Elon Musk and Asia’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani, who owns Jio Platforms, over the method of allocating satellite spectrum.
The deals consists of selling Starlink’s equipment through Jio and Airtel’s retail networks, while Jio will also offer customer service, installation, and activation support. It will emphasise on providing high-speed internet to businesses, healthcare centres, schools and remote communities across India, according to reports.
“Our collaboration with SpaceX to bring Starlink to India strengthens our commitment and marks a transformative step toward seamless broadband connectivity for all,” NDTV quoted Mathew Oommen, Group CEO of Reliance Jio as saying. Airtel’s Managing Director and Vice Chairman Gopal Vittal said, “Working with SpaceX to offer Starlink to Airtel customers in India is a significant milestone.”
Although Musk’s business presence in India is currently limited to X, his electric vehicle company, Tesla, is gearing up to enter the Indian market.
