NEW DELHI: Broadband through satellite is emerging as a major business area for telecom companies from India and abroad with a high-pitched battle on the cards between Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio Platforms, Sunil Mittal-backed Bharti OneWeb, Tata’s Nelco and Elon Musk’s StarLink.
Ambani’s Jio Platforms, which is understood to have applied for a satellite services licence with the government through a newly formed subsidiary, announced a joint venture with Luxembourg based SES, a global satellitebased content connectivity solutions provider, to deliver “scalable and affordable” broadband services by leveraging satellite technology.
The new company, Jio Space Technology, will be 51% held by Jio Platforms, while SES will own the rest.
“With additional coverage and capacity offered by satellite communications services, Jio will be able to connect the remotest towns and villages, enterprises, government establishments, and consumers to the new Digital India,” Akash Ambani, director of Jio, said.
While Bharti’s OneWeb hopes to start its satellite-based broadband services in India this year, Elon Musk’s StarLink is working on its regulatory needs and licencing requirements after being heavily reprimanded by the government for on-boarding customers without adequate clearances. Tata’s Nelco has also been expanding in the satellite-based broadband business, and has plans to make further investments as it looks to onboard enterprise customers and enter new categories.
