While it hasn’t been confirmed, there’s a good probability Bharti Airtel will team up with OneWeb in India. This opens the door for Starlink to collaborate with Airtel’s competitors, such as Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea.
Starlink, a satellite internet service provider owned by SpaceX, is drastically subsidising expenses for Indian subscribers. The service is highly costly, and if the cost were to be passed on to the clients, it would become unaffordable. The benefits of the connection must outweigh the costs, according to Sanjay Bhargava, Starlink’s India CEO.
According to an ET Telecom report, Bhargava stated that Starlink primarily wants to focus on places that terrestrial network service providers find difficult to access. From pricing to access, Bhargava feels Starlink has the potential to revolutionise the game in India.
Starlink could collaborate with Vodafone Idea and Reliance Jio.
While it hasn’t been confirmed, there’s a good probability Bharti Airtel will team up with OneWeb in India. This opens the door for Starlink to collaborate with Airtel’s competitors, such as Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea.
Starlink will provide connection and network services in places that are now difficult to reach by partnering with telcos. Bhargava further stated that Starlink is not running a Ponzi scheme to defraud clients.
SpaceX now has an officially registered subsidiary in India, Starlink Satellite Communications Private Limited (SSCPL), which will enable them to begin seeking for licences.
Bhargava recently announced that Starlink would provide 100 free devices to schools, including 20 in Delhi and 80 in a rural location near the capital.
When businesses like Starlink and OneWeb enter the Indian market next year, the satcom industry will face fierce rivalry. It will be interesting to observe how the government will provide spectrum to the satcom businesses.
In India, Starlink is already taking reservations for connections. For pre-booking, a large number of customers have paid the company $99 (about Rs 7500). Starlink’s commercial services might not arrive until the second half of 2022. The corporation is still waiting for regulatory approval from the government.
