Mukesh Ambani’s telecom behemoth Reliance Jio has entered into joint venture with Luxemburg based SES to offer affordable and scalable satellite based internet services in India. This was revealed by Reliance Industries’ regulatory filings with stock market regulator SEBI.
Following this key investment, Reliance Jio is all set to surmount a challenge to Elon Musk’s satellite internet company Starlink, which is actually a subsidiary company of SpaceX. Airtel, which will be offering satellite internet services through its subsidiary company OneWeb, will be another prominent challenger to Reliance Jio.
It must be noted that these satellite internet companies utilize multi-orbit space network to deliver satellite based internet services back on earth. Experts claim that satellite based internet is certainly more superior than the conventional broadband services and will help in providing high speed internet services especially in the remote areas.
Meanwhile, the news of Reliance Jio’s joint venture with the Luxembourg company has come at a time when the Indian government has refused to lend license to the Starlink’s Indian subsidiary company. Indian government has apparently cited regulatory hurdles for delaying the issuing of license to Musk’s company.
Although even Reliance Jio hasn’t officially got the license for offering satellite internet services, it may not have to wait too long. It is an open secret that Modi government has been generous in giving patronage to the Mukesh Ambani owned telecom company. And Modi government might do another big favor for Reliance Jio by issuing the license much earlier than to its other competitors.
The Indian government might also follow the traditional policy of providing patronage and protection to the Indian companies, a fact that should bode well for both Reliance Jio and Airtel.
Meanwhile, Starlink is in the midst of rapid expansion as it seeks to monopolize the space by launching LEO satellites and roll out its services across the world including in Europe and Asia. Last week, Starlink got a major shot to its expansion plan after it secured a operation license in Brazil.