Ashwini Vaishnaw welcomes Elon Musk's Starlink to India, says ‘will be useful…’
Mukesh Ambani's Jio Platforms announced a deal with SpaceX, the aerospace company led by Elon Musk, to bring Starlink's broadband internet services to India.
Railways minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Wednesday welcomed Elon Musk's Starlink to India, saying that it will be useful for railway projects in remote areas.
“Starlink, welcome to India! Will be useful for remote area railway projects,” the minister posted on X.
Reliance Jio announces deal with Musk's StarX
Earlier in the day, Mukesh Ambani's Jio Platforms announced a deal with SpaceX, the aerospace company led by Elon Musk, to bring Starlink's broadband internet services to India.
The deal with Musk, a close aide of US President Donald Trump - comes a day after telecom tycoon Sunil Bharti Mittal's Bharti Airtel signed a similar partnership deal with SpaceX.
Starlink is the world's largest low-earth-orbit (LEO) constellation operated by SpaceX.
On Tuesday, Bharti Airtel announced that it is entering into an agreement with SpaceX to bring Starlink's high-speed Internet service to India on a non-exclusive basis, PTI reported.
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Bharti already partners with Eutelsat OneWeb, the second-largest LEO constellation.
Similarly, Jio Platforms has a joint venture with SES, a leading global satellite-based content connectivity solutions provider.
According to the PTI report, Jio Space Technology Limited, where Jio holds 51 per cent and SES 49 per cent, is to use multi-orbit space networks that are a combination of geostationary (GEO) and medium earth orbit (MEO) satellite constellations capable of delivering multi-gigabit links and capacity to enterprises, mobile backhaul and retail customers across the length and breadth of India and neighbouring regions.
ALSO READ: Elon Musk's Starlink to enter India: What internet speeds does it offer? Explained
Starlink awaiting regulatory approvals in India
Starlink is awaiting regulatory approvals to launch Starlink services in India. Key to that is meeting the prescribed security norms. Also, such companies are required to secure a Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite (GMPCS) licence and space regulator IN-SPACe's approval, along with the allocation of spectrum from the Indian government, to offer satellite-based voice and data services in the country.
(With PTI inputs)
