Musk’s Starlink set for India debut, ties up with Airtel to offer high-speed Net
Elon Musk-owned SpaceX has joined hands with Bharti Airtel to provide Starlink’s high-speed Internet services to its customers in India.
The information regarding Starlink’s debut in India was provided by the telecom operator to stock exchanges in a filing on Tuesday.
The announcement comes weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Musk in Washington where they discussed several issues, including space, mobility, technology and innovation.
With this, the satellite telecom joint venture will provide the much-needed services in remote interior places of India, where conventional telecom services tend to be costly.
This is the first agreement to be signed in India, which is subject to SpaceX receiving its own authorisations to sell Starlink in India, the stock exchanges were informed.
The partnership will enable Airtel and SpaceX to explore how Starlink can complement and expand Airtel’s offerings, and how Airtel’s expertise in the Indian market complements SpaceX’s direct offerings to consumers and businesses.
Airtel and SpaceX will explore offering Starlink equipment at Airtel’s retail stores, Starlink services via Airtel to business customers, opportunities to connect communities, schools and health centres, among many others, in even the most rural parts of India, the stock filing said.
It informed that Airtel and SpaceX would 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 would further its ability to offer nationwide connectivity and connect previously underserved areas, particularly those with limited to no coverage today.
With Starlink, 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 would offer Starlink to Airtel customers in India and further demonstrate their commitment to next-generation satellite connectivity.
He said this collaboration would enhance their ability to bring world-class high-speed broadband to even the most remote parts of India, ensuring that every individual, business and community had reliable Internet. Starlink would 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 India,” Vittal said.
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 said the team at Airtel had 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.
