• Mukesh Ambani's Jio Platforms has struck a deal with SpaceX, the aerospace company led by Elon Musk, to bring Starlink’s broadband internet services to India.

• The deal with Musk, comes a day after Sunil Bharti Mittal’s Bharti Airtel signed a similar partnership deal with SpaceX.

• On March 11, 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. 

What is Starlink?

• Starlink delivers high-speed, low-latency internet to users all over the world. 

• As the world’s first and largest satellite constellation using a Low Earth Orbit, Starlink delivers broadband internet capable of supporting streaming, online gaming, video calls and more. 

• Starlink is engineered and operated by SpaceX.

• Most satellite internet services come from single geostationary satellites that orbit the planet at 35,786 km. As a result, the round trip data time between the user and satellite — also known as latency — is high, making it nearly impossible to support streaming, online gaming, video calls or other high data rate activities.

• Latency is one of the most important factors in perceived experience when using the internet – web pages load faster, audio and video calls feel closer to real-life, and online gaming feels responsive.

• Starlink is a constellation of thousands of satellites that orbit the planet much closer to Earth, at about 550 km, and cover the entire globe. Because Starlink satellites are in a low orbit, latency is significantly lower

• Starlink currently operates more than 6,750 satellites currently in orbit.

• Starlink can help Bharti and Jio provide connectivity to previously underserved areas, especially areas currently with limited to no coverage.

• Jio will offer Starlink equipment in retail outlets and online stores and also support customer installation and activation on devices. Jio and SpaceX will also explore how they can boost each other’s offerings.

• Jio will not only offer Starlink equipment in its retail outlets but also establish a mechanism to support customer service installation and activation, it said. Jio and SpaceX are also evaluating other complementary areas of cooperation to leverage their respective infrastructure to further enhance India’s digital ecosystem.

• Airtel and SpaceX will explore offering Starlink equipment in Airtel’s retail stores, Starlink services via Airtel to business customers, opportunities to connect communities, schools, and health centers, among many others, in even the most rural parts of 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.

Manorama Yearbook app is now available on Google Play Store and iOS App Store