Reliance Industries’ digital services company Jio Platforms Limited has signed an agreement with SpaceX to offer Starlink’s broadband internet services to its customers in India, the company said .
The agreement is subject to SpaceX receiving authorisation to sell Starlink in India.
The development came a day after Jio’s rival Bharti Airtel signed a similar pact with SpaceX.
“Our collaboration with SpaceX to bring Starlink to India strengthens our commitment and marks a transformative step toward seamless broadband connectivity for all.
“By integrating Starlink into Jio’s broadband ecosystem, we are expanding our reach and enhancing the reliability and accessibility of high-speed broadband in this AI-driven era, empowering communities and businesses across the country,” Mathew Oommen, the Group CEO of Reliance Jio, said.
The pact enables Jio and SpaceX to explore how Starlink can extend Jio’s offerings and how Jio can complement SpaceX’s direct offerings to consumers and businesses.io will make Starlink solutions available through its retail outlets as well as through its online storefronts, the statement said.
Through this agreement, the parties will leverage Jio’s position as the world’s largest mobile operator in terms of data traffic and Starlink’s position as the world’s leading low Earth orbit satellite constellation operator to deliver reliable broadband services across the country, including the most rural and remote regions.
Jio will not only offer Starlink equipment in its retail outlets but will also establish a mechanism to support customer service installation and activation, according to the statement.
Reacting the deal , Congress General Secretary in charge of Communications, Jairam Ramesh MP told ANI , “I was most amused actually to see that within a space of 12 hours, both two of India’s leading companies, Jio and Airtel, announcing a partnership with Starlink, a company owned by Elon Musk. And they described it as a win-win situation. Both these companies had been opposing Starlink’s entry into India on the grounds that Starlink wanted the allocation of spectrum when they wanted spectrum to be auctioned, which was the government of India’s policy since 2014… This is clearly why Airtel and Jio’s move with Starlink has been orchestrated by the prime minister to buy peace with Mr Trump through Mr Musk. Every day, Mr Trump is announcing that India is reducing its tariffs, reducing its import duties. We don’t know what the situation is, what India has agreed on, and what has not agreed. But clearly, this is a friendship-buying move. The Prime Minister is clearly hoping that Mr Trump will be kept happy because we have kept Mr Musk happy…”
