First surfaced back in 2021, Elon Musk-backed Starlink is finally set to commence its services in India as Airtel and SpaceX have signed an agreement for the same. This is the first agreement to be signed in India, which is subject to SpaceX receiving its own authorizations to sell Starlink in India, said Airtel.
The partnership between the two countries enables Airtel and SpaceX to further explore how Starlink can complement and expand Airtel’s offerings, and how Airtel’s expertise in the Indian market complements SpaceX’s direct offerings to consumers and businesses, said the telecom operator.
Airtel and SpaceX will explore offering Starlink equipment in Airtel’s retail stores, Starlink services via Airtel to business customers, opportunities to connect communities, schools, and health centers, among many others, in even the most rural parts of India. Airtel and SpaceX will also explore how Starlink could help expand and enhance the Airtel network, as well as SpaceX’s ability to utilize and benefit from Airtel’s ground network infrastructure and other capabilities in India.
By adding Starlink, (in addition to its existing alliance with Eutelsat OneWeb) to its offerings, Airtel will further its ability to offer nationwide connectivity and connect previously underserved areas, particularly those with limited to no coverage today. With Starlink enterprise suite, Airtel will be able to offer enterprises, businesses, and communities comprehensive and seamless connectivity packages.
Starlink began taking pre-orders in India for a brief period nearly 4 years ago. The company started accepting a deposit fee of $99 but things didn’t move on further. For those uninitiated, Starlink provides Internet services through satellites that SpaceX launches in the orbit.
Starlink, at that time, said that users can expect to see data speeds vary from 50Mb/s to 150Mb/s and Latency from 20ms to 40ms in most locations over the next several months as the company enhances the Starlink system. There could also be brief periods of no connectivity at all. This is information from 4 years ago, which means these stats should have been improved by a lot.