Bharti Airtel partners with Elon Musk’s Starlink for high-speed satellite internet in India
Besides, Bharti Airtel itself is in the satcom fray with its OneWeb offering and has previously opposed Starlink’s stance on spectrum allocation. Satcom services haven’t begun yet in India, with companies awaiting rules on pricing and the method of spectrum allocation.
India’s second-largest telecom carrier, which is led by Sunil Mittal, has signed a pact with Musk’s SpaceX on the Starlink offering. “This is the first agreement to be signed in India, which is subject to SpaceX receiving its own authorisations to sell Starlink in India,” Airtel and SpaceX said in a joint statement Tuesday.
Gwynne Shotwell, president and chief operating officer of SpaceX added that Airtel has played a pivotal role in India’s telecom story, “so working with them to complement our direct offering makes great sense for our business.”
The firms didn’t provide any financial details of the deal. The announcement came as a surprise, given that Airtel already has a tie-up with Eutelsat OneWeb, a rival to Starlink. Airtel is part of the Bharti Group, which owns a significant stake in Eutelsat OneWeb.
Also, Airtel and Starlink have been in opposing camps on the thorny issue of the allotment mechanism of satcom spectrum, and its pricing. “By adding Starlink, (in addition to its existing alliance with Eutelsat OneWeb) to its offerings, Airtel will further its ability to offer nationwide connectivity and connect previously underserved areas, particularly those with limited to no coverage today,” Airtel said. “With Starlink enterprise suite, Airtel will be able to offer enterprises, businesses, and communities comprehensive and seamless connectivity packages.”
People aware of the partnership strategy said Airtel’s decision to partner the US major was due to the Musk-owned company having the largest satellite bandwidth capacity by virtue of its much larger low-earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellation compared with that of OneWeb. “Also, with access to both Starlink and Eutelsat OneWeb constellations, it’s a win-win for Airtel as it can market a wider range of satellite broadband services in urban markets, going forward, and effectively plug coverage gaps in rural/remote regions,” the person said.