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Airtel has signed an agreement with SpaceX to bring Starlink's high speed internet to India. Let's see how Jio responds to this new development. The plans need to be economical for sustainability.
Link
This still needs approval for starlink from govt. Price for spectrum (not auction) also needs to be fixed yet.
Will be real useful once normal phones can be used for satellite access. Most of rural India loves their phone to access any content. They dont use computers.
The expediting factor: The Trump Factor Quote:
The announcement comes against the backdrop of heightened pressure from the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump on the Indian government to expedite approvals for American companies seeking to enter the Indian market, including Tesla and Starlink.
Since taking office for his second term in January 2025, Trump has vocally championed the interests of U.S. firms, particularly those led by his close ally, Elon Musk, who heads both SpaceX and Tesla.
Trump has repeatedly criticized India’s high tariffs and regulatory hurdles, which he argues unfairly disadvantage American businesses. In a recent address to Congress, he singled out India’s auto tariffs—often exceeding 100%—and threatened reciprocal action if they were not reduced.
Starlink has been navigating India’s complex regulatory landscape to secure a satellite communications license, a process complicated by security concerns and competition from domestic telecom giants like Reliance Jio.
By integrating Starlink’s low-Earth-orbit satellite technology—capable of delivering high-speed internet for streaming, gaming, and video calls—Airtel aims to bridge connectivity gaps in rural India, where fiber infrastructure remains limited.
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However, the agreement is contingent on SpaceX obtaining its own approvals from Indian regulators, a process that has been fraught with delays.
Despite these hurdles, analysts suggest that Trump’s diplomatic leverage and Musk’s growing influence in global geopolitics could accelerate Starlink’s entry, potentially paving the way for Tesla as well.
While Trump’s pressure on India has stirred debate,
it appears to be yielding results for American companies. Whether this will translate into broader trade concessions remains to be seen, but for now.
Link:
Quote:
Originally Posted by ike
(Post 5939153)
Jio has already signed a similar deal with SES.
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Jio does a press release today.
Link 
So if I understand correctly, this will enable high speed internet even at places where cell phone coverage is bad? This will be a great plus for remote work. Can't always rely on mobile towers in most places for the kind of speeds required for regular work. And outside of the cities, broadband is at the mercy of one local operator in each area who doesn't give a damn about speeds or uptime since he has a monopoly. Hopefully this can change all that. The downside is of course we'll have to listen to reels being played full volume even in so far quiet areas in the countryside!
Quote:
Originally Posted by am1m
(Post 5939445)
So if I understand correctly, this will enable high speed internet even at places where cell phone coverage is bad? This will be a great plus for remote work. Can't always rely on mobile towers in most places for the kind of speeds required for regular work. And outside of the cities, broadband is at the mercy of one local operator in each area who doesn't give a damn about speeds or uptime since he has a monopoly. Hopefully this can change all that. The downside is of course we'll have to listen to reels being played full volume even in so far quiet areas in the countryside!
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Yes. This should fill in all the areas not under good cell phone coverage (country wide). But this is only for broadband access. Not phone access. Helps people to move around and still work remotely, or watch TV provided you get the roaming plan. But don't think people in countryside will use this for broadband.
Also, the cell size is close to 15 kms and you get 700/800 Mbps per cell. Too many people will reduce effective throughput per connection. I guess they even have limits of number of people they can serve per coverage area for this reason.
I guess corporates/govt will be their biggest customers.
- Border Roads Organization/Construction companies
- Army/Navy/Airforce (for non-critical communication)
- ONGC/Reliance etc (offshore drilling platform)
- Airlines perhaps?
Starlink works on an aircraft.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ike
(Post 5939153)
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And Reliance JIO too joins the race by signing the deal with Starlink.
Great time ahead with respect to broadband coverage across India, especially rural and underserved areas where fiber / mobile broadband penetration is not feasible.
Source:Economic times
At the price point of more than 100 $/mth that they sell in the US, it would be interesting to see how many people will sign up for this. Unless they find a way to subsidise it for India and run at 1000 INR/mth which is still considered as a premium connection by most people today.
Quote:
Originally Posted by amolpol
(Post 5939709)
At the price point of more than 100 $/mth that they sell in the US, it would be interesting to see how many people will sign up for this. Unless they find a way to subsidise it for India and run at 1000 INR/mth which is still considered as a premium connection by most people today.
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Jio airfiber charges are 899+tax. 1000/month will be difficult, not to mention the hardware costs involved.
Quote:
Originally Posted by amolpol
(Post 5939709)
At the price point of more than 100 $/mth that they sell in the US, it would be interesting to see how many people will sign up for this. Unless they find a way to subsidise it for India and run at 1000 INR/mth which is still considered as a premium connection by most people today.
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I feel it's not aimed at mainstream users as the speeds are going to be far lower than what optical fibre connections provide. It's mainly for people in areas where telecom connectivity is patchy or better broadband connections do not exist due to terrain or other logistics issues. It's also for those who need good connectivity on the move.
I am not sure, but it could be for far flung places where internet/data connectivity to mobile towers cannot be provided via fibre. At such places, the internet to the mobile tower will be provided through Starlink and not via fiber, and then Jio/Airtel will make internet/data/calls accessible to their users over 4G/5G just like normal mobile towers.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ToThePoint
(Post 5939760)
I feel it's not aimed at mainstream users as the speeds are going to be far lower It's also for those who need good connectivity on the move.
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Fully agree. I used to have two fiber connections for redundancy when we were working from home regularly. If they get it at the 1000 bucks price range I would happily take it as the secondary link which could also secure the connectivity while traveling.
But if numbers are few then rates are not going to be very cheap, lets see how this works out eventually.
This is great!
It would also mean an alternate option when our Babus and politicians suddenly decide that internet should be stopped for the masses. Price it within 2k per month and will gladly take it as a secondary connection.
Heck we have the
highest number of internet shutdowns across the globe over all sorts of "reasons".
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