Yet, the question experts are asking is whether it will at all ring a bell with rural folk in remote areas, which are its target audience, and that too at a price way higher than current wireless services. Even so, some experts are of the view that the sheer visibility of brand Starlink and its icon Musk may provide an early booster dose to a service that may not find many takers right away.
On Tuesday, Sunil Bharti Mittal-backed Bharti Airtel announced a partnership to offer Starlink’s satellite internet service to consumers across India, even as its existing joint venture with Eutelsat OneWeb will be used to offer satellite internet to businesses.
The day after, Mukesh Ambani-backed Jio Platforms Limited announced the same partnership with Starlink—to satellite internet service to customers, once the latter receives its operating licence from the ministry of communications. In a press statement, the company added that Reliance Jio’s websites and retail outlets will sell Starlink’s ‘terminals’—the equivalent of a dish receiver in satellite television services—as well as offer customer service on Starlink’s behalf.
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However, industry stakeholders have raised questions on how vital the satellite service would be, especially in remote areas that is its core proposition.
A veteran telecommunications industry consultant pointed out that even by FY28, the satellite internet services industry is unlikely to cross $100 million ( ₹870 crore) in cumulative annual revenue.
“The services are too expensive for people in rural and remote regions to access, which is what satcom’s major usability claim is,” said the consultant, who works with all leading telecom firms in the country. “At setup costs of over ₹30,000, who will buy Starlink in a remote village somewhere in the hills of north-east India?”
Siddhant Cally, telecom research analyst at market researcher Counterpoint India, concurred. “Given the cost, for the first few years, the target customers for this might not be the average household, but niche applications like remote mission-critical projects, healthcare or education,” he said. “It won’t have an initial boom in adoption like 5G fixed wireless access services, but as the technology evolves and becomes cheaper, the customer base will widen.”
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A second industry consultant, pointing to India’s huge market, said that Starlink will have to offer specialized pricing for India, “but that does not mean that it won’t see traction”. He added that rolling out the service with Jio and Airtel means that the service provider will reach maximum market breadth without needing to extensively hire an on-ground service team, which would cost it significantly more than a partnership with the established players.
In January 2022, Starlink’s initial rollout of pre-registering users was halted by the ministry of communications, citing its lack of operating licence in the country. At the time, within less than one year, reports had underlined that Starlink had gathered over 5,000 pre-registrations—even with a deposit fee of $99 ( ₹7,500 at 2021’s forex rates).
In comparison, terrestrial fibre broadband services in India are available at half the cost, and no additional deposit fee, with speeds of up to 1 gigabit per second (Gbps). This disparity is expected to make satcom services hard to sell at first, but anticipation around Starlink may give both Airtel and Jio a clear fillip to rope in users.
Read this | Starlink takes a step closer to India
“For satellite internet to be profitable, it needs a broad customer base, and India’s vast market offers a key opportunity for low-earth observation systems to build such a customer base,” Counterpoint’s Calily said. “Pricing is of course costlier than legacy broadband, but the partnerships with Jio and Airtel will benefit both sides—Starlink taps into a large market, while Jio and Airtel expand distribution and rope in more users.”
On 5 March, Mint reported that satellite spectrum allocation by the Centre is likely to take place by June this year, following which operators will be free to commence their services in the country. While Airtel and Jio already have the necessary licences and have conducted on-ground satellite internet trials in India, Starlink is yet to receive its licence.
In the long run, stakeholders believe that these partnerships might be crucial in building a base by roping in customers—even at a subsidised fee. Subsequent to that, the services could see independent growth too.
“Each of these companies will need to leverage their core strengths to attract customers—one may focus on its extensive network, while the other prioritizes superior customer support, as competing on price will be challenging. Ultimately, consumers stand to benefit, gaining an additional layer of connectivity alongside 5G fixed-line internet through wi-fi at home,” Cally said.
And read | Airtel, Jio square off against Elon Musk’s Starlink in India’s satellite broadband race
