NEW DELHI, Mar 11: Bharti Airtel, one of India’s leading telecommunications companies, announced on Tuesday its partnership with SpaceX to bring high-speed internet services to its customers in India through Starlink, SpaceX’s satellite internet division.
“We are enclosing herewith a press release dated March 11, 2025 titled ‘Airtel Announces Agreement with SpaceX to Bring Starlink’s High-Speed Internet to its Customers in India’ being issued by the Company,” the telecom giant shared in an exchange filing.
In November 2024, a heated verbal clash broke out during a crucial meeting between global satellite giants Elon Musk’s Starlink, Jeff Bezos-owned Amazon Kuiper, and India’s top three telecom operators. The discussion focused on the satellite spectrum pricing mechanism and other related matters, as reported by ET.
Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea pushed for a level playing field, citing various instances where they felt disadvantaged. In response, Starlink rejected their demands, even suggesting that if 5G mobile spectrum could be shared among telecom operators, it should also be allocated administratively, without the need for an auction.
The report further noted that the intense open house session, hosted by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), stretched over six hours, with more than 210 stakeholders in attendance. However, it was Starlink and the Indian telecom trio—Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea—that dominated the discussion.
Ahead of Starlink spectrum allocation
Following the discussions, Indian telecom giants Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel called on the government to ensure a level playing field in the satellite communications sector as it prepared to decide on the license and spectrum allocation for Elon Musk’s Starlink, according to a report by ToI in February, 2025.
The companies pushed for “comparable” spectrum pricing for satellite operators, warning that discrepancies could lead to “market distortions.”
In a petition to the government, the telecom firms accused the Trai of overlooking the competitive imbalance between satellite and terrestrial spectrum allocation. The petition emphasized that “comparable spectrum pricing to terrestrial services” should be enforced for satellite services in urban, semi-urban, and rural areas, covering both retail and enterprise customers. The companies argued that satellite operators offering similar services should adhere to the same pricing structures, regulatory levies, and fees as terrestrial telecom providers.
The new telecom law, passed in December 2023, permits satellite spectrum to be assigned administratively for a fee, unlike terrestrial spectrum, which is typically auctioned. However, the final details of pricing and allocation are still under deliberation by Trai.
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