Musk, Ambani join hands in surprise Starlink India internet deal

Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio signed a deal with Elon Musk's SpaceX to bring Starlink satellite internet services to India, a surprise move from the billionaires after being at odds for months over how the country should grant them spectrum.

India's largest telecom operator will stock Starlink equipment in its retail stores, giving Starlink a direct distribution point in thousands of such outlets across the country.

Musk and Ambani had fought intensely over how airwaves should be assigned for satellite internet, with New Delhi finally siding with the allocation approach the U.S. billionaire lobbied for.

Ambani's Reliance had been concerned that Musk could dominate the telecom space once he launches his products, but the distribution deal will eventually see the Indian billionaire offering his rival's products in the fast-growing market, while also competing with them.

"While it has been surprising, it's a prudent strategy for Starlink to enter the India market and a win-win for all the parties involved earlier competing for the pie and now cooperating and sharing," said Neil Shah, co-founder of research firm Counterpoint.

The Reliance deal follows a similar partnership announcement between Starlink and India's No. 2 telecom player Bharti Airtel a day before. Both the Airtel and Jio deals are conditional upon Starlink obtaining government approval to begin operations in the country.

Airtel shares lost as much as 1% in Mumbai trade on Wednesday after the Jio deal was announced, while Reliance Industries was trading marginally higher.

The agreements come weeks after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with Musk in Washington, where they discussed issues including space, mobility, technology and innovation.

India's satellite service sector is set to grow 36% a year to $1.9 billion by 2030, according to Deloitte.

Starlink has been waiting since 2022 for licenses to operate commercially in India, with no clear timeline yet on a decision. It has been delayed for reasons including national security concerns.

The Jio-SpaceX deal is tied to certain financial terms and will help Reliance offer Starlink products in areas where the Indian company doesn't have offerings, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said, without disclosing details.

"This is a low-cost entry model" for Starlink in India, the person added.

Jio Platforms, which runs Reliance Jio, will also provide installation and activation support for the Starlink devices.

Reliance said in a statement that Jio and SpaceX are also evaluating other areas of cooperation to leverage their respective infrastructure, without elaborating.

MUSK AND INDIA

Starlink provides coverage to over 125 markets around the world.

As it awaits a license, it has faced some challenges in India, where authorities seized two of the company's devices, one in an armed conflict zone and another in a drug smuggling bust, prompting Musk to say that its satellite internet service is inactive in India.

The stakes are high for Musk in India, where he also recently signed a deal for first Tesla showroom to sell its imported electric cars.

Yet, tariffs of over 100% weigh on the carmaker, with Musk repeatedly complaining that they are among the steepest in the world.

"The (Starlink-Jio) deal creates a business modality for Starlink to make government approvals easier," said Chaitanya Giri, Space Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation.

"The advantage with Starlink is that it is a larger constellation, it benefits from SpaceX's high rocket launch frequency, and the geopolitical heft thanks to the Trump-Musk relationship," Giri added.

Jio Platforms, which already operates a satellite internet joint venture with Luxembourg-based SES, has secured approvals from India's space regulator to launch commercial satellite broadband services in the country.

In previous stand-offs with Starlink, Ambani's Reliance had urged an auction but the Indian government sided with Musk, who wanted it to be allocated administratively, in line with global trends.

Ambani had lobbied New Delhi that he wanted a level playing field. His executives have been worried his telecom company, which spent $19 billion in airwave auctions, risks losing broadband customers to Starlink and potentially data and voice clients as technology advances.