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Elon Musk has tried for years to launch SpaceX’s Starlink in India, only to be met by regulatory matters that blocked his plans. That could change now that SpaceX has inked a deal with the nation’s top wireless carriers.
On Wednesday, Jio Platforms, a subsidiary of billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries, announced a tie-up to offer Starlink’s satellite internet services to its customers. The company said it will offer Starlink equipment at its retail locations and support installation. Their deal came just a day after Bharti Airtel unveiled a similar agreement with SpaceX.
In a statement, Reliance Jio CEO Mathew Oommen said Starlink would help it expand the accessibility of high-speed broadband in an artificial intelligence-driven era. Bharti Airtel Vice Chairman Gopal Vittal emphasized that Starlink will help the firm bring service to “even the most remote parts of India.”
Starlink must receive regulatory approval to move forward with the deals, which would expand its reach to a major market. India’s satellite communications market is set to double to $6.81 billion by 2030, according to research firm Mordor Intelligence.
At least 40% of the country’s residents don’t have internet access, a gap that cheap satellite broadband could help close. Starlink has at least 6,900 active satellites and reached 5 million customers worldwide, according to the company.
The agreements mark a major about-face for Jio and Bharti, which is controlled by billionaire Sunil Mittal, who had opposed Starlink.
Ambani and Mittal had advocated for a competing bidding process to allocate spectrum, although India’s government chose to side with Musk and allocate spectrum administratively. Reliance had been worried about losing broadband customers to Musk after spending $19 billion in airwave auctions, Reuters reported in October.
“I will call and ask if it would not be too much trouble to allow Starlink to compete to provide Internet services to the people of India,” Musk said in October, replying to a post on X asking why Ambani is “afraid” of Musk.
The deals were announced less than a month after Musk met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House. They discussed issues including space, mobility, emerging technologies, and good governance, according to Modi and India’s foreign ministry.
Musk has talked about his companies entering India for years, only to be hit with delays.
Tesla (TSLA+7.34%) posted jobs — and signed a deal for a new showroom — soon after its CEO’s meeting with Modi. Last year, India adjusted its tariffs on foreign electric vehicle imports in response to Tesla’s lobbying efforts. Musk and Modi were set to meet last year after India’s government announced the new tariff rates, but Musk canceled and visited China.
Starlink still needs to get approval from India’s telecom and home ministries and it’s unclear when that could happen. Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said in November that his agency would be “more than happy” to give Starlink a license as long as they address security concerns.