New Delhi: Billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio announced a pact with Elon Musk’s SpaceX to bring Starlink satellite internet services in India, a surprise move that follows months of bickering over how Musk’s venture should be granted spectrum.
The deal with Musk – considered the right-hand-man to US President Donald Trump – comes a day after telecom tycoon Sunil Bharti Mittal’s Bharti Airtel signed a similar partnership deal with SpaceX. Rivals Jio and Airtel had come together to demand an auction for awarding spectrum for satellite services in India as they feared an administrative allocation will give Musk airwaves at a price lower than what they had paid via auctions in the past.
This agreement “is subject to SpaceX receiving its own authorisations to sell Starlink in India”, Jio Platforms – the company that holds telecom and digital properties of Reliance group – said in a statement on Wednesday.
Jio will offer Starlink equipment through its retail outlets as well as through its online storefronts. Jio and SpaceX will also explore how they can boost each other’s offerings.
“Through this agreement, the parties will leverage Jio’s position as the world’s largest mobile operator in terms of data traffic and Starlink’s position as the world’s leading low earth orbit satellite constellation operator to deliver reliable broadband services across the country, including the most rural and remote regions of India,” the statement said.
The deals by Airtel and Jio come weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Musk in Washington to discuss issues including space, mobility, technology and innovation. During the trip, the prime minister had also met Trump, whose administration has upped the ratchet on tariffs against countries including India.
Ambani, chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries Ltd, was one of the select few invitees at the Trump’s inauguration.
In October last year, the government had sided with Musk on the issue of allocating airwaves, to be used for offering low latency internet services using satellite, at a pre-decided price through administrative route.
