Airtel joins SpaceX to bring Starlink Internet to India Magic Post

The Indian telecommunications operator Bharti Airtel said on Tuesday that he had signed an agreement with Elon Musk SpaceX to provide Starlink satellite internet service to customers in the most populous country in the world.

The potential launch of Starlink, which provides high speed Internet access to locations distant by satellites with low terrestrial orbit, was accompanied by a fierce political debate in India.

Musk put heads with the richest man in Asia, Mukesh Ambani, on how the satellite spectrum should be awarded, but also met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Washington last month.

Indian media reports also said that Starlink’s license request last month was approaching initial regulatory approval.

Airtel said on Tuesday that his agreement would be subject to SpaceX “receiving his own authorizations to sell Starlink in India”. “This is the first agreement to be signed in India,” the company said in a statement.

“Airtel and SpaceX will explore the offer of Starlink equipment in Airtel’s retail stores, Starlink services via Airtel to commercial customers, the opportunities to connect communities, schools and health centers, among others, in the most rural regions of India,” he said.

SpaceX operating director Gwynne Shotwell, said in the same declaration that the company was “delighted” to work with Airtel “… and to unlock the transformer impact that Starlink can bring to the Indian people”.

The current commercial interest of Musk in India is limited to the social media platform X, although the manufacturer of electric vehicles Tesla is preparing to start selling its cars in the fifth world economy.

The automotive company began hiring in India last month, publishing job advertisements a few days after Modi met Musk, the main advisor to US President Donald Trump.