With Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio announcing their respective agreements with SpaceX, JM Financial said that this tie-up is largely neutral for the two telecom companies and there seems to be no significant risk to growth potential for Indus Towers. Currently, the agreement between the two telcos and SpaceX is limited to distributing Starlink’s satellite broadband services via their extensive retail network, mostly to B2C and B2B customers in rural and remote areas, in return for some limited distribution income. However, per the report, Starlink, going forward, may also collaborate with telcos in the field of direct-to-cell satellite services as well.
“Given Starlink’s satellite internet use case is primarily for rural and remote regions, this agreement complements (and does not compete with) Bharti/Jio Fiber and AirFiber broadband business by expediting access to high speed internet even in the most challenging of locations. Further, this agreement with Starlink seems complementary to Bharti/Jio’s existing satellite broadband ventures (with Etuselat OneWeb for Bharti and with SES for Jio),” JM Financial said while adding that Starlink’s direct-to-cell satellite services are also unlikely to disrupt telcos’ key wireless business given its dependence on telcos, and inferior performance.
Earlier last week, Bharti and Jio announced their respective agreements with SpaceX to offer: a) Starlink’s equipment through their extensive retail network; Jio will also provide support in customer service installation and activation; and b) Starlink services to business customers, connect communities, schools, health centres, etc. in even the most rural parts of India. Further, the agreement talks of exploring future collaborative opportunities in the satellite communication space. These agreements are subject to SpaceX receiving authorisation to sell Starlink’s services in India.
It is worth noting here that till very recently, Elon Musk’s Starlink was on one side while Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel were on the other in terms of bringing their satellite broadband services in India and allocation of spectrum. All of this changed amidst the new geopolitical setup.
Bharti Airtel and Jio tie up to help Starlink’s expansion in India
The two telcos – Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio – have announced their respective agreements with SpaceX to bring Starlink’s broadband services to their customers in India. Under these agreements, JM Financial summarised, Bharti and Jio will explore offering: a) Starlink’s equipment through their extensive retail network;
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