Musk's Starlink and Bharti Airtel sign deal to explore bringing satellite internet to India

Associated Press Finance

Tue, Mar 11, 2025, 7:49 AM 2 min read

NEW DELHI (AP) — Indian telecom relation Bharti Airtel said Tuesday it has signed a woody with Elon Musk’s Starlink to research providing the U.S. outer net giant’s services to customers successful India, depending connected authorities approval.

Musk has agelong wanted Starlink to participate the world’s astir populous market, but its introduction into India has been delayed owed to regulatory challenges, information concerns and absorption from home telecom giants similar billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio.

Airtel — India’s 2nd largest telecom relation — said successful a connection that its woody with Starlink depends connected whether the subsidiary of U.S. aerospace institution SpaceX tin person authorities support to statesman operating successful India.

At slightest 40% of India’s much than 1.4 cardinal radical inactive don’t person entree to the net and inexpensive outer broadband is needed to span this gap, peculiarly successful India’s immense distant and mountainous areas.

Musk’s Starlink has astatine slightest 6,900 progressive satellites orbiting Earth that supply low-latency broadband, including to areas wherever net antecedently has been wholly unavailable.

Last November, India’s telecoms minister, Jyotiraditya Scindia, said Starlink had yet to comply with information norms, and that a licence for outer communications services would beryllium issued lone aft the institution meets each the requirements.

The announcement astir the Airtel concern comes weeks aft Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with Musk successful Washington wherever they discussed issues including space, mobility, exertion and innovation.

The woody volition “explore however Starlink tin complement and grow Airtel’s offerings, and however Airtel’s expertise successful the Indian marketplace complements SpaceX’s nonstop offerings to consumers and businesses,” the company's connection said.

As portion of the agreement, the 2 companies volition research offering Starlink instrumentality astatine Airtel’s immense retail store network, Starlink services done Airtel to concern customers, and utilizing each other’s web infrastructure to heighten sum crossed India.

The connection did not supply further details.