Musk’s Starlink Signs Pact With Ambani’s Jio After Rival Bharti

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Billionaire Mukesh Ambani-controlled Jio Platforms Ltd. announced a surprise pact with SpaceX to offer Starlink Inc.’s satellite internet services in India, a day after rival Bharti Airtel Ltd. unveiled a similar arrangement. 

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The twin deals essentially turns Elon Musk’s internet service from challenger to ally of India’s powerful domestic wireless carriers, underscoring his growing influence across the globe as President Donald Trump’s close advisor. It also marks a volte-face by Ambani’s Jio and Bharti — controlled by fellow tycoon Sunil Mittal — which were earlier trying to block Starlink’s India entry at lower airwaves pricing. 

The tie-ups are subject to SpaceX receiving regulatory approval to sell Starlink in India. Yet it shows a recognition on the part of local billionaires that the arrival of Musk’s companies in the world’s most populous country is inevitable, and that they may not be able to beat him in a straight fight. Tesla Inc. is shipping thousands of cars to India and setting up showrooms.

“Reliance Jio and Bharti are no longer treating satellite broadband as a threat but as core infrastructure they can lease,” said Utkarsh Sinha, managing director at Bexley Advisors, a boutique investment bank firm. “This move ensures they remain gatekeepers of India’s internet expansion, even as Starlink scales.”

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The new deal agreement will see Ambani’s firm offer Starlink equipment through its retail outlets as well as through its online storefronts, a Jio statement said Wednesday. The two companies will also explore how they can boost each other’s offerings.

The India market is potentially crucial for Musk’s businesses as Starlink continues to be shut out of China and Tesla sees declining sales. The world’s richest man is also seeing his growing political notoriety affect sales in places like Europe and Canada. 

Shares of Reliance Industries Ltd., Jio’s parent, rose as much as 1.3% while Bharti surged as much as 3.3% during Mumbai trading before erasing the gains.

‘Gatekeepers’

The Indian government’s decision October last year to allocate satellite spectrum at a pre-decided price stoked fears that Starlink may compete with terrestrial networks and chip away some of Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. and Bharti’s subscriber base. Reliance Jio and Sunil Mittal-led Bharti are India’s largest and second-largest wireless carriers respectively.

“The reality is that Starlink’s is not going to be a volume play anytime in a hurry” and its primary market in India will be users in remote locations instead of the urban data-heavy user base that Reliance Jio and Bharti fight over, according to Sinha.

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The alignment by Jio and Bharti “ensures that they remain key players in shaping satellite broadband’s adoption in India rather than being sidelined by a disruptive outsider,” he said.

The partnerships come less than a month after Musk met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the US last month where they discussed “space, mobility, technology and innovation,” accordomg to a Feb. 13 post on X by Modi. 

The Indian government faces the task of luring foreign investment from heavyweights like Musk and balancing it with the demands of local giants amid broader trade deal negotiations with the US.

Starlink still needs approvals from the India’s telecom and home ministries, and there’s no clarity on when these will be handed down. The local telecom regulator is also yet to announce the price satellite-internet firms need to pay for securing airwaves — a key element that will influence the cost of a Starlink connection for consumers in India.

Mittal and Ambani’s empires, meanwhile, are also vying for a piece of India’s satellite broadband market with their own ventures.

Mittal is an investor in OneWeb Ltd., Starlink’s rival, and looking to roll out services in India. Reliance Jio, which formed a joint venture with Luxembourg-based SES in 2022, unveiled JioSpaceFiber in October 2023 with plans to deliver high-speed satellite internet “at highly affordable prices.”

—With assistance from Alisha Sachdev, Ruchi Bhatia and Santosh Kumar.

(Updates with context throughout.)

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