JIO platforms, India Conglomerate Filacia of India’s Reliance Industries and the country’s largest telecom operator, Wednesday announced a partnership with Elon Musk’s Spacex to provide broad -generation internet services to its clients in India.
Under the agreement, which is subject to regulatory approval, Jio and Spacex will explore the use of Starlink to extend the Telco offers, while Jio will sell Starlink devices through its retail stores and online stores, Telco said in a press release.
Jio will also help “create a mechanism to support the installation and activation of customer service” for Starlink devices, he said.
Early Wednesday, Airtel, India’s second largest Telco announced a Spacex -like partnership to deliver Starlink through its channels. The Airtel Partnership is also subject to Spacex Regulatory Approval in the country, which are in the process with the space and department of telecommunications.
As part of the joint announcement, Jio said he plans to provide spacex internet services to enterprise customers across the country through its channels. Moreover, Jio and Spacex are set to evaluate “other complementary areas of cooperation” to use their infrastructure in the world’s most populous nation.
“By integrating Starlink into the broad generation of JIO, we are expanding our achievement and strengthening the reliability and access of the broader generation in this era directed by it, empowering communities and businesses across the country,” said Mathew Oomen, Group CEO, Reliance Jio, in a prepared statement.
This is not Spacex’s first attempt to enter India, with more than 950 million its subscribers. Musk’s company tried to research the market earlier, but had to reimburse the prepositions of its Starlink devices in 2022 after the Indian government called it for “booking/making satellite internet service” before receiving the necessary approval.
Recent moves come just weeks after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the US, meeting with Musk and President Donald Trump and signing a deal on a Global Cable Subsea project.
Alongside the Spacex partnership, Jio has worked in his broad satellite -based generation through his Starlink rival service, Jiospacefiber, resulting from a joint enterprise with SES. Telco also tested that service in four districts in 2023 and received its approval in space last year. Similarly, Airtel has explored satellite internet through oneweb for some time.
It will be interesting to see how JIO and Airtel support Starlink’s participation when it occurs in India, given these other broad -generated satellite businesses. Both Telkot also opposed the movement of the Indian government at the end of last year to facilitate the entry of Starlink into the market through administrative means instead of an auction process, which is usually how the spectrum is divided.
For now, at least, everyone seems to be on the same page. “We are looking forward to working with Jio and obtaining authorization from the government of India to provide more people, organizations and businesses with access to Starlink Highspeed Internet services,” Gwynne Shotwell, President and Operational Chief of Spacex, as part of the announcement.
