Musk’s Starlink internet to make India debut with Bharti Airtel
Elon Musk-owned SpaceX has partnered with Bharti Airtel to launch Starlink’s high-speed internet services in India, the telecom operator announced in a filing to stock exchanges on Tuesday.
The announcement comes weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with Elon Musk in Washington, where they discussed issues including space, mobility, technology, and innovation.
This satellite telecom joint venture will provide much-needed services to remote areas in India, where conventional telecom services are often expensive.
This is the first agreement to be signed in India and is subject to SpaceX receiving the necessary authorisations to sell Starlink in the country, the stock exchanges were informed.
The partnership will allow Airtel and SpaceX to explore how Starlink can enhance Airtel’s offerings and how Airtel’s expertise in the Indian market can complement SpaceX’s direct offerings to consumers and businesses.
Airtel and SpaceX will explore offering Starlink equipment in Airtel’s retail stores, Starlink services via Airtel to business customers, and opportunities to connect communities, schools, and health centres in even the most rural parts of India, the stock filing said.
It informed that Airtel and SpaceX will also explore how Starlink could help expand and enhance the Airtel network, as well as SpaceX’s ability to utilise and benefit from Airtel’s ground network infrastructure and other capabilities in India.
By adding Starlink (in addition to its existing alliance with Eutelsat OneWeb) to its offerings, Airtel said it will further its ability to offer nationwide connectivity and connect previously underserved areas, particularly those with limited to no coverage today.
With Starlink enterprise suite, Airtel will be able to offer enterprises, businesses, and communities comprehensive and seamless connectivity packages.
Commenting on the development, Bharti Airtel Ltd Managing Director and Vice Chairman, Gopal Vittal, said working with SpaceX will offer Starlink to Airtel customers in India and further demonstrate their commitment to next-generation satellite connectivity.
He said this collaboration enhances their ability to bring world-class high-speed broadband to even the most remote parts of India, ensuring that every individual, business, and community has reliable internet. Starlink will complement and enhance Airtel’s suite of products to ensure reliable and affordable broadband for our Indian customers - wherever they live and work.
“Technology is always evolving and we’re committed to staying at the forefront of innovation so that we can continue to bring the best connectivity experience for our customers. This includes collaborating with global leaders like SpaceX to extend our reach and add new coverage to customers throughout all of India,” Vittal added.
SpaceX President and Chief Operating Officer, Gwynne Shotwell, said, “We are excited to work with Airtel and unlock the transformative impact Starlink can bring to the people of India. We are constantly amazed by the incredible and inspiring things that people, businesses and organisations do when they are connected via Starlink.”
He added that the team at Airtel has played a pivotal role in India’s telecom story, so working with them to complement our direct offering makes great sense for our business.
While India’s Airtel is a global communications solutions provider with over 550 million customers in 15 countries, including India, Africa, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, the US headquartered Starlink, which uses satellite constellation in a low Earth orbit, delivers high-speed, low-latency internet to users across the world.
