Starlink internet inches closer to India as it gets Jio as new partner after Airtel

Not a day has passed since Bharti Airtel announced a new partnership with SpaceX to bring Starlink satellite internet services to India. The Elon Musk-owned company has another Indian partner, Jio Platforms, as the space technology giant gears for a potential launch.

Jio Platforms, a part of Reliance Industries, is the country's largest telecom operator. Jio announced a deal with SpaceX to offer broadband internet services to customers in India, similar to the one SpaceX is doing with Bharti Airtel.

Jio Platforms will sell Starlink hardware through its physical retail stores and online platforms. It will also help build an infrastructure "to support customer service installation and activation” for Starlink users. Jio plans to offer Starlink internet to enterprise customers via its channels, and the two companies will evaluate other areas in which they can benefit each other.

It's worth noting that Airtel's and Jio's deals with SpaceX depend on whether the satellite internet company can get regulatory approvals from the Indian government. SpaceX is currently in the process of getting the green light from the Department of Telecommunications and IN-SPACe.

For reference, the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN–SPACe) was created in 2020 as an autonomous agency under the Department of Space. It facilitates and authorizes private sector participation in space-related activities, among various tasks.

SpaceX uses its networks of thousands of low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites to beam internet from space. Its global subscriber count jumped from 1.5 million in 2023 to over 4 million last year. It tried to enter the Indian market and even took pre-orders for Starlink hardware in the past. However, the company had to backtrack and cancel the pre-orders.

“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 SpaceX president and COO, Gwynne Shotwell (via TechCrunch).

Not just Starlink, Jio is also building a competing space-powered internet service for India, designed to eliminate the need for extensive ground infrastructure and "deliver high-speed internet access across the length and breadth of the country." The service, called JioSpaceFiber, was announced at the India Mobile Congress in 2023 and was tested in four remote districts in the country.