India’s two biggest telcos, Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio, have separately signed agreements with Elon Musk’s Starlink, an international telecommunications provider, to launch its services in India. The agreements are subject to SpaceX receiving official authorization from the Indian authorities to sell Starlink and other services in India. Both telcos would help Musk's Starlink in selling its equipment in their stores, providing Starlink’s services to businesses and communities, and other services.

This becomes more interesting as both companies already have prior collaboration with other providers of satellite internet. Bharti Airtel is already in collaboration with Eutelsat OneWeb, while Reliance-Jio is in partnership with Orbit Connect India from before to facilitate their satcom journey in India. 

Scope of Collaboration 

Under the agreement, the telcos will employ Musk’s Starlink across the country to enhance the reliability and accessibility of high-speed internet. It will help the telcos to extend their services in hard-to-reach places owing to geographical or other problems. 

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Starink’s Global Dominance 

Starlink has established early leadership in the satellite internet market, boasting a large constellation of satellites for global coverage and rapid connectivity. Starlink's currently orbiting fleet of 7,000 satellites offers global coverage and rapid connectivity. It has surpassed 4 million subscribers. 

Starlink’s effect on India’s telcos 

Such a globally dominant presence of the telecommunication provider gives it an edge over the early entrants like Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio, who are currently in their testing phase. Its strategic collaboration with India’s 2 biggest telcos gives it an advantage as it has the resources to equip the connectivity landscape while being behind the veils. 

Read the latest report on Starlink's license status in India at: Elon Musk’s Starlink Moves Closer to Securing Satcom License in India

This hints at some strategic approach that the international company has adopted to capitalize on the ever-expanding telecom landscape of the nation. Amid the concerns about pricing and competition in the satcom sector, this comes as an inflection point that holds the potential to transform as well as shape the future of India’s telecom sector.