Starlink, Elon Musk's satellite communications company, fought behind the scenes for months to infiltrate the Indian internet business. The market is dominated by two local giants, Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel.
Then, suddenly, this week, they each announced a partnership to bring Starlink to India, with government approval pending.
Jio, India's largest branch of business, said on Tuesday that it will work with Starlink to “provide trustworthy broadband services across the country, including the most remote areas and rural areas.” A few hours ago, Airtel celebrated the deal with similar words.
The support of Mukesh Ambani of Reliance and Sunil Bharti Mittal of Bharti Airtel, two of India's most influential big names, was a breakthrough for Musk.
“We look forward to receiving approval from more people, organizations and businesses that have access to Starlink's high-speed internet services,” Gwynne Shotwell, president of SpaceX, Starlink's parent company, said in a statement following Jio's announcement. Airtel said the partnership is “subject to SpaceX's own approval.” With local partners who hold government ears, Starlink's odds look even stronger.
Musk is standing alongside President Trump and is actively trying to reduce the US government, making his business deals all over the world even more prominent. Musk's long struggle to break the market for the automotive company Tesla has attracted much attention in India, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi tried to appease Trump to avoid tariffs. However, Starlink could potentially be a bigger prize.
Starlink's low-earth orbit satellites swarm globes to allow broadband quality to illuminate internet services to the surface. When ground-based internet is patchy, like in rural India, Starlink sees opportunities.
Jio, Ambani's largest mobile data provider, has 500 million subscribers. But for generations, foreign companies have felt it is impossible to challenge the Ambani family on their lawns.
Trump's election and Musk's proximity to power in Washington seem to make new arrangements possible.
Indian business and political leaders boast Trump's inner circle and a closed closure meeting. Ambani attended one of Trump's inauguration parties in January, and Modi was photographed in Washington last month when he held a meeting with Musk. India's Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal spends his days in Washington last week, while US National Intelligence Director Tarshi Gabbard is scheduled for next week in New Delhi.
In India, Starlink is fighting two battles at the same time. The first is opposition to India's solid national security. To qualify for a communications license, foreign companies must pass the regulatory test gauntlet. Starlink temporarily took pre-orders in India in 2021, eliciting an angry response from India's Ministry of Communications.
Other fights pitted Musk, the world's wealthiest man, against Ambani, Asia's wealthiest man. JIO owners had argued that the right to beam the internet to India, in collaboration with Airtel, a normally intense competitor, would have to be sold by the government at auction. Starlink wanted to avoid a bid war.
Nikhil Pahwa, founder of Medianama, which provides an analysis of Indian technology policy, said it is unclear whether Starlink will compete directly with the two Indian telecom giants or serve them. “There is a lack of competition in the Indian market for internet access,” he said. In India, mobile data is only 14 cents per gigabyte cheaper than anywhere else in the world, but “if Starlink doesn't offer its own service, this will only hold the Airtel and Jio two layers,” he said.
In either case, StarLink will drive the satellite-based internet market to India. Both Airtel and Jio had begun investing in alternative systems developed with European partners at a great cost, but were able to decide to rely solely on Starlink instead.
Others worry about various types of vulnerabilities, including Musk's ability to use Starlink as a geopolitics instrument. Starlink services are restricted multiple times in Ukraine during the war.
Last week, Musk made an eerie exchange with the Polish foreign minister on social media. He said if Starlink proves to be an “unreliable provider” in Ukraine, allies in the country will look for other suppliers. Musk responded sharply to the “quiet, little guy” and added that he would never turn off services in Ukraine, as “without Starlink, the line of Ukraine would collapse.”
After the Jio's deal with Airtel was announced, Jairam Ramesh, a spokesman for the Indian Opposition Congress Party, asked in the post: Will you become Starlink or its Indian partner? ”
