Thought Leadership
SpaceX wants to use the branch network of the Indian telecommunications company Airtel to distribute its satellite system. The collaboration has yet to be approved.
Tech billionaire Elon Musk wants to enter the Indian internet market with his Starlink satellite system. The telecommunications company Bharti Airtel from India has reportedly signed an agreement with Musk’s company SpaceX to bring Starlink’s internet services to customers in the most populous country. The aim is to jointly explore “how Starlink can complement and expand Airtel’s offerings”, the statement said. In order to distribute Starlink in India, SpaceX still needs approval from the authorities.
According to the announcement, Airtel could, among other things, sell Starlink equipment in its retail outlets and offer the US company’s services to its business customers. The Vice Chairman of Bharti Airtel, Gopal Vittal, expressed the expectation that this cooperation could improve its own capacities to bring fast broadband connections to even the “remotest parts of India”.
Starlink provides internet access via its satellite system. According to the European Space Agency (Esa), there are around 13,230 satellites in orbit, of which more than 7,000 belong to the Starlink network.
dpa
