Starlink’s Jio-Airtel Deal: Here are the ins and outs of Starlink, a division of Elon Musk’s SpaceX that has signed strategic deals with Airtel and Jio in India.
Elon Musk-owned SpaceX has struck key business deals with two of India’s telecom giants, setting the stage for the long-anticipated entry of its satellite internet service, Starlink, into the country’s lucrative telecom market.
Within hours of each other, Bharti Airtel and Reliance Industries’ Jio Platforms announced that they have signed separate, non-exclusive agreements with SpaceX to bring Starlink to India.
The announcements did not go into specifics of the deals other than the fact that Starlink equipment will be offered through the two telcos’ retail outlets, with Jio also stating it will establish a “mechanism to support customer service installation and activation” of Starlink services.
Both agreements are subject to SpaceX receiving its own authorisations to sell Starlink in India. With the deals making headlines and sparking buzz around the launch of Starlink in India, here are the ins and outs of the unique and widely popular satellite internet service.
1. Starlink users just need a clear view of the sky
Starlink is able to provide reasonably high-speed Internet to any user with a clear view of the sky through its constellation of satellites.
Unlike traditional satellite providers, which often struggle with speed and latency, Starlink uses its fleet of low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites that can communicate with one another to deliver high-speed internet with low latency.
Starlink also differs from decades-old satellite connections as its LEO constellation comprises satellites that are just a few hundred kilometres away from Earth’s surface. LEO satellite systems require antennae in order to track the signals from the satellites as they pass overhead.
2. Starlink has over 7,000 satellites in orbit
In 2024, the company reported surpassing 4.6 million users worldwide with around 1.4 million subscribers in the US.
While Starlink has the largest LEO constellation in the world, Jeff Bezos’s Amazon plans to launch 3,236 satellites with Project Kuiper. Meanwhile, Eutelsat OneWeb currently features more than 630 satellites along 12 synchronised orbital planes. SpaceX also plans to expand its megaconstellation of satellites to 42,000.
3. Starlink provides coverage to over 125 markets around the world
Starlink is available in the majority of North America, South America, Australia, and parts of Europe. Last month, Bhutan became the first South Asian country where Starlink is operating legally.
However, it does not serve customers in China, which is seeking to build its own capacity through satellite megaprojects.
4. Starlink can be used on boats
For boats, Starlink has a $250 monthly plan that comes with 50GB of data and a much pricier plan that costs $1000 per month and gives you 1TB of data.
If you want to use Starlink on boats, it costs $2500 for the hardware only, with optional accessories like a pipe adaptor and Gen 3 Wi-Fi router priced at $120 and $199 respectively. But if you don’t want to spend so much money, the standard kit works on boats but only if you are stationary.
In December 2024, police in Andaman and Nicobar Islands seized a Starlink dish from drug smugglers who were allegedly transporting methamphetamine worth Rs 36,000 crore on a fishing trawler.
5. Starlink poses environmental concerns
A recent study found that Starlink’s second-generation satellites — which currently account for less than a third of the network — emit unintended electromagnetic radiation (UEMR) at levels 32 times brighter than its first-generation satellites.
Scientists have also raised alarms about their serious threat to the environment.In January this year, about 120 SpaceX Starlink satellites burnt up in Earth’s atmosphere. These satellite re-entries result in the release of aluminium oxide particles that could, in the long run, damage the Earth’s ozone layer.
6. Starlink can work with third-party routers
Starlink satellite internet service can work with a different, third-party Wi-Fi router, according to a report by PC Mag.
While the Starlink router that comes with the dish is reportedly sufficiently powerful to provide basic Wi-Fi connectivity, users who are interested in setting up a more sophisticated networking solution can opt for gaming routers or mesh routers in order to expand the network coverage, the report said.
7. Starlink can struggle with capacity, speed in high-demand areas
Starlink promises to offer internet services at faster speeds and lower latency than fixed line broadband service providers. However, experts are concerned whether the SpaceX division can keep up with rising user demand.
In the US, Starlink has so far failed to reach 100 megabits per second download and 20Mbps upload speeds — which is the benchmark set by the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for a service to be defined as broadband, according to a report by CNET. (Indian Express)