Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani-controlled Jio Platforms Ltd. announced a pact with Elon Musk’s SpaceX to offer Starlink Inc.’s satellite internet services in India, a day after rival Bharti Airtel Ltd. signed a similar arrangement.
This agreement is ‘subject to SpaceX receiving its own authorizations to sell Starlink in India’, Jio Platforms said in a statement Wednesday. This also enables Jio and SpaceX to explore how Starlink can boost Jio’s offerings and how Jio can complement SpaceX’s direct offerings to consumers and businesses.
Jio will make Starlink equipment available through its retail outlets and online storefronts, it said.
Bharti had announced a similar collaboration late on Tuesday in clear signs that India’s mobile telephony landscape was set to be recast. Back-to-back pacts by Ambani’s and Mittal’s firms show a volte-face by India’s incumbent wireless carriers, which were initially opposed to Starlink getting airwaves at a price lower than what they had paid via auctions in the past.
Musk’s Clout
The collaborations announced over the past 24 hours underscore Musk’s growing political and business clout given his position in the current US administration. Musk, the world’s richest person, met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the US last month where they discussed “space, mobility, technology and innovation.”
The Indian government faces the task of luring foreign investment from heavyweights like Musk and balancing it with the demands of local giants amid broader trade deal negotiations with the US.
Starlink, however, has a few hoops to jump through in India before rolling out its services. It needs approvals from the India’s telecom and the home ministries.
The local telecom regulator is also yet to announce the price satellite-internet firms need to pay for securing airwaves “- a key element that will influence the cost of a Starlink connection for consumers in India.
