Bharti Airtel, controlled by Indian billionaire Sunil Mittal, agreed to bring Elon Musk’s Starlink internet services to India, promising to get remote areas of the world’s most populous country online.
The company claimed that the deal was Starlink’s first in India, which is subject to SpaceX receiving a permit to sell Starlink services in the country, according to a release by Airtel on Tuesday.
“This collaboration enhances our ability to bring world-class high-speed broadband to even the most remote parts of India, ensuring that every individual, business, and community has reliable internet,” Gopal Vittal, managing director and vice chairman of Bharti Airtel, said in the statement. “Starlink will complement and enhance Airtel’s suite of products to ensure reliable and affordable broadband for our Indian customers—wherever they live and work.”
The company plans to offer Starlink equipment in Airtel’s retail stores and provide Starlink services—alongside its existing partnership with Eutelsat OneWeb—to businesses, schools, communities and health centers in areas with little or no coverage.
“The team at Airtel has played a pivotal role in India’s telecom story, so working with them to complement our direct offering makes great sense for our business,” Gwynne Shotwell, president and chief operating officer of SpaceX, said.
Airtel, serving over 550 million customers across South Asia and Africa, competes with Reliance Jio Infocomm—backed by India’s richest person, Mukesh Ambani—and Vodafone Idea, led by billionaire Kumar Birla. In February, a Mittal-linked company sold Airtel shares worth 84.9 billion rupees ($976 million), as the telecom tycoon explores opportunities beyond India.
With a net worth of $30.7 billion, Mittal and his family holds the 7th spot on Forbes Asia’s list of India’s 100 Richest published last October. In addition to Airtel, Mittal owns Airtel Payments Bank, a joint venture with Kotak Mahindra Bank, led by fellow billionaire Uday Kotak.
