Bharti Airtel, one of India’s leading telecom giants, has inked a groundbreaking deal with Elon Musk’s SpaceX to bring Starlink’s high-speed satellite internet to the country, signaling a major shift in India’s digital landscape. Announced on Tuesday via an exchange filing on the BSE, this partnership aims to leverage Starlink’s low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite network to complement Airtel’s existing services, targeting both urban and underserved rural regions.

The collaboration comes after months of speculation and regulatory hurdles surrounding Starlink’s entry into India. Airtel, already a key player in the satellite broadband race through its stake in OneWeb, now joins forces with SpaceX to offer low-latency internet—boasting speeds of 50-250 Mbps—via Starlink’s constellation of over 6,000 satellites. The deal includes plans to sell Starlink equipment at Airtel’s retail stores, cater to business clients, and connect remote communities, schools, and health centers, amplifying digital inclusion efforts.

This move follows resistance from Indian telecom majors, including Airtel itself, alongside Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea, who had urged the government to auction satellite spectrum rather than allocate it administratively—a policy favoring Starlink. However, Airtel’s strategic pivot suggests a pragmatic embrace of satellite technology to bolster its portfolio, especially as the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) finalizes pricing and allocation frameworks, with services potentially rolling out by June 2025.

While Starlink’s pricing remains a question—its global standard is $120/month versus Airtel’s affordable plans like Rs 499—experts see this as a game-changer for India’s rural connectivity. The partnership could also intensify competition with Jio’s forthcoming Jio Space Fiber, setting the stage for a satellite internet showdown. As Airtel and Starlink align, India’s digital divide may finally begin to shrink, one satellite at a time.