Jio, OneWeb aim for satellite broadband market in India
NEW DELHI : Reliance Jio launched its satellite communications service called Jio Space Fiber at the India Mobile Congress even as rival Bharti Group-backed satellite internet service conglomerate, Eutelsat-OneWeb, said it was ready to begin offering satellite broadband services from next month. The Mukesh Ambani-backed telco demonstrated the reach of the service by connecting four of the remotest locations in India with JioSpaceFiber in Gir, Gujarat, Korba in Chhattisgarh, Nabrangpur in Odisha and Jorhat, Assam.
“Jio has enabled millions of homes and businesses in India to experience broadband internet for the first time. With JioSpaceFiber, we expand our reach to cover the millions yet to be connected," said Akash Ambani, chairman of Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd.
Sunil Mittal, co-chairman of Eutelsat-OneWeb, where Bharti Airtel is the largest shareholder, said satellite broadband services will commence as the group has set up a satellite ground station in Mehsana, Gujarat, for its satellite-driven internet services, which he said was a new technology available for India. “Satellite communications is here to serve every inch of our country and, of course, the globe.
Today, the OneWeb constellation in which Bharti has the largest stake is ready to serve the globe, and it is ready to serve the country. Anybody, anywhere in the country, however remote or far or in difficult areas they are located, can be connected from next month onwards from a satellite ground station that has been set up in Mehsana Gujarat," he said.
Both Airtel and Jio would need satellite spectrum from the government to make their services commercially available. The government is yet to decide on the method of allocating the airwaves, with Jio and
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