IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw 'welcomes' Musk's Starlink to India, says it will be useful for...
Ashwini Vaishnaw welcomed Elon Musk's Starlink on Wednesday, highlighting its potential to benefit railway projects in remote areas.
«Starlink, welcome to India! Will be useful for remote area railway projects,» said Vaishnaw in a statement on X.
Billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Jio Platforms has struck a deal with SpaceX, the aerospace company led by Musk, to bring Starlink's broadband internet services to India, a surprise move that follows months of bickering over how Musk's venture should be granted spectrum rights. The deal with Musk — considered the right-hand-man of US President Donald Trump — came a day after telecom tycoon Sunil Bharti Mittal's Bharti Airtel signed a similar partnership deal with SpaceX.
Jio vs Airtel
Over the past few months, rivals Jio and Airtel had come together to demand an auction for awarding spectrum for satellite services in India as they feared an administrative allocation would give Musk airwaves at a price lower than what they had paid via auctions in the past.
This agreement «is subject to SpaceX receiving its own authorisations to sell Starlink in India», Jio Platforms — the company that holds telecom and digital properties of Reliance Industries Ltd — said in a statement on Wednesday.
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Jio will offer Starlink equipment in retail outlets and online stores and also support customer installation and activation on devices. Jio and SpaceX will also explore how they can boost each other's offerings.
«Through this agreement, the parties will leverage Jio's position as the