Update 11 March 2025, Time 10:00 PM.
American billionaire Elon Musk’s company SpaceX and Airtel have signed an agreement to bring Starlink high-speed internet to India.
Although Mukesh Ambani’s Jio had also made many efforts to reach an agreement with Musk, the matter could not be resolved. Now, Airtel managed to reach an agreement with SpaceX.
This information was given by Airtel through a tweet on its social media account X. According to Airtel’s statement, “Airtel has signed an agreement with SpaceX, under which Starlink high-speed internet services will be brought to Airtel customers in India.”
This is the first such agreement signed in India, but it will start only after SpaceX gets the necessary approval to provide Starlink services in India.
This means that first the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and IN-SPACe (Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Center) will pass it and then the formal approval of the Telecom Authority of India (TRAI) will be obtained.
“The biggest objective of this agreement is to bring internet to remote areas of the country, such as inaccessible mountains and desert plains and very remote rural areas. Where even a simple mobile network is not reaching till now, for example, the Lahaul Spiti region or the very interior of the Thar Desert.
“Airtel’s statement said that going forward, however, the deal will determine many other aspects of the digital revolution, and many new things will appear.
The agreement also includes providing connectivity to schools, health centers and remote areas. This announcement was made when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Elon Musk in Washington a few weeks ago.
Starlink is providing satcom services in over 100 countries, delivered by a constellation of over 7,000 Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites operated by SpaceX.
Airtel has already been the largest shareholder in satellite operator Eutelsat OneWeb since 2023, with a stake of 21.2 percent. While Airtel’s stake was in the commercial and institutional sector, the deal with SpaceX is primarily for rural and inaccessible areas.
Sources believe that today’s latest deal will increase the Indian venture’s share. Even in a sluggish and falling market, Airtel’s share rose by 2 percent today and by about 5 percent in the last five days.