Tech billionaire Elon Musk’s vision of providing satellite internet services all over the world is one step closer to coming true as his venture Starlink is finally being introduced in India, a country which makes up almost 18% of world’s population.
Indian telecom Bharti Airtel announced on Tuesday that it signed a deal with Musk’s Starlink to bring its satellite internet services to India, depending on government approval. While Musk had long wanted to enter the world’s most popular market, Starlink’s entry to India has been delayed due to regulatory challenges and opposition from local telecom companies.
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Airtel said in a statement that its deal with Starlink depends on whether the subsidiary of U.S. aerospace company SpaceX can receive government approval to begin operating in India.
Shortly after, Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio also announced a deal with Starlink on Wednesday. This is a surprising move considering their previous rivalry over spectrum allocation. While Airtel’s shares dipped slightly after the Jio announcement, Reliance Industries saw a marginal rise in trading.
While at least 40% of India’s 1.4 billion population does not have access to the internet, cheap satellite broadband like Starlink might bridge that gap, particularly in remote and mountainous regions.
Starlink is a satellite-based internet service developed by SpaceX, aiming to provide high-speed internet access globally, particularly in remote and underserved regions. As of March 2025, Starlink is available in over 70 countries and has at least 6,900 active satellites orbiting Earth that provide low-latency broadband, including to areas where internet previously has been completely unavailable.
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These announcements come weeks after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with Musk in Washington D.C. where they discussed issues including space, mobility, technology and innovation.
In November 2024, India’s Minister of Communications Jyotiraditya Scindia said Starlink had yet to comply with security norms, and that a license for satellite communications services would be issued only after the company meets all the requirements.