Billionaire Mukesh Ambani‘s Jio Platforms has struck a deal with SpaceX, the aerospace company led by Elon Musk, to bring Starlink‘s broadband internet services to India, a surprise move that follows months of bickering over how Musk’s venture should be granted spectrum rights.
The deal with Musk – considered the right-hand-man of US President Trump – comes a day after telecom tycoon Sunil Mittal’s Bharti Airtel signed a similar partnership deal with SpaceX.
Over the past few months, rivals Jio and Airtel had come together to demand an auction for awarding spectrum for satellite services in India as they feared an administrative allocation would give Musk airwaves at a price lower than what they had paid via auctions in the past.
This agreement “is subject to SpaceX receiving its own authorisations to sell Starlink in India”, Jio Platforms said in a statement on Wednesday. Jio will offer Starlink equipment in retail outlets and online stores and also support customer installation and activation on devices.
source: https://government.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/technology/after-airtel-ambanis-jio-also-partners-with-musks-starlink/118956592
