After Airtel, rival Ambani’s Jio signs satellite internet deal with Musk’s Starlink

Musk, Ambani join hands in surprise Starlink India internet deal

In an interesting turn of development, hours after Sunil Mittal’s Bharti Airtel announced a partnership with Elon Musk’s Starlink, rival telecom operator Mukesh Ambani‘s Reliance Jio also announced a pact with Elon Musk’s SpaceX to bring Starlink satellite internet services in India. Meanwhile, the Department of Telecom has not yet decided the Spectrum charges of Starlink kind Satellite services operators.

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. Both Jio and Airtel opposed administrative charges for the Spectrum for Starlink and preferred the auction route. Government of India decided to allow administrative charges, and the Regulator TRAI (Telecom Authority of India) has not fixed charges.

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 of India 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. Both Jio, India’s largest wireless carrier, and Airtel, the No 2 player in the world’s most-populous nation where data usage is rapidly rising, feared lower entry cost will chip away some of their subscriber base.

Their deals announced within 12 hours of each other, underscoring Musk’s growing political and business clout in the current US administration. As the head of the nascent Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the world’s richest man has emerged as a dominant force in Trump’s second term. In the statement, Jio said its agreement with SpaceX is to offer Starlink’s broadband internet services to its customers in India.

“This agreement, which is subject to SpaceX receiving its own authorizations to sell Starlink in India, enables Jio and SpaceX to explore how Starlink can extend Jio’s offerings and how Jio can complement SpaceX’s direct offerings to consumers and businesses,” it said. “Jio will make Starlink solutions available through its retail outlets as well as through its online storefronts.”

Jio will not only offer Starlink equipment in its retail outlets but also establish a mechanism to support customer service installation and activation, it said. “The agreement with SpaceX is part of Jio’s commitment to ensuring that reliable internet is fully accessible to all enterprises, small and medium businesses, and communities across India. Starlink complements JioAirFiber and JioFiber by extending high-speed internet to the most challenging of locations in a quick and affordable manner,” the statement said.

Jio and SpaceX are also evaluating other complementary areas of cooperation to leverage their respective infrastructure to further enhance India’s digital ecosystem. “Ensuring that every Indian, no matter where they live, has access to affordable and high-speed broadband remains Jio’s top priority,” said Mathew Oommen, Group CEO, Reliance Jio.

“Our collaboration with SpaceX to bring Starlink to India strengthens our commitment and marks a transformative step toward seamless broadband connectivity for all. By integrating Starlink into Jio’s broadband ecosystem, we are expanding our reach and enhancing the reliability and accessibility of high-speed broadband in this AI-driven era, empowering communities and businesses across the country,” he said.

“We applaud Jio’s commitment to advancing India’s connectivity,” said Gwynne Shotwell, President and Chief Operating Officer of SpaceX. “We are looking forward to working with Jio and receiving authorisation from the Government of India to provide more people, organisations and businesses with access to Starlink’s high-speed internet services.”

Mittal, founder and chairman, Bharati Enterprises, in a statement on Wednesday said he had at the recently concluded Mobile World Congress in Barcelona called on “the telecom and satellite players to work together, combine their strengths, and complete the mission of connecting the unconnected, covering the oceans and the skies as well as difficult-to-reach areas.”[1]

Reference:

[1] Airtel partners Elon Musk’s SpaceX for providing Starlink’s high-speed internet services in India – Mar 11, 2025, PGurus.com

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