The ground is getting ready in India for a satellite internet connectivity war between major players, namely Starlink and Eutelsat OneWeb, in which India’s Bharti group is one of the major shareholders. According to the Indian government, the total number of broadband connections at the end of 2024 stood at 944.96 million (wireless 903.78 million, wireline 41.19 million) and is growing.
Gathering the majors
Eutelsat has inked an agreement with India’s conglomerate Tata group to market its satellite internet in India. Eutelsat Group in a 1st September statement said OneWeb India Communications- the Indian entity of Eutelsat- will partner with Tata Group’s Nelco Ltd to deliver secure, low-latency LEO connectivity for customers on land, at sea, and in the air.
Eutelsat said the proposed service will cover India’s borders, territorial waters, and remote regions, supporting a wide range of secure government and enterprise applications. These capabilities will strengthen India’s digital infrastructure and national security, while ensuring reliable connectivity in underserved areas. Nelco is well geared to offer these services to its customers as soon as the OneWeb LEO services become commercially operational in the country, Eutelsat added.
The agreement strengthens the group’s strategic footprint in one of the world’s most dynamic and fast-growing connectivity markets and underscores our commitment to supporting India’s digital and security ambitions, said Neha Idnani, Regional Vice President for APAC, Eutelsat and Director of OneWeb India.
On his part P.J. Nath, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Nelco said the partnership marks a significant step in enabling reliable, secure, and high-speed communication solutions based on LEO services for critical sectors across land, sea, and air.
Interestingly, Bharti group company and telecom major Bharti Airtel had recently signed an agreement with Elon Musk’s SpaceX to market Starlink satellite internet services in India.
The partnership envisions offering Starlink hardware via Airtel’s retail outlets, as well as delivering services to enterprises, communities, schools, and healthcare centers—especially in rural and remote areas.
Room for everyone
By adding Starlink to its existing partnership with Eutelsat OneWeb, Bharti Airtel aims to broaden its nationwide satellite connectivity portfolio, helping bridge the digital divide across India, the company had said earlier.
A Bharti Airtel official remarked that the Indian market is vast, offering ample space for both Starlink and OneWeb to grow. Meanwhile, the US company Amazon is also interested in offering its Kuiper satellite broadband services in India. The Indian market also has broadband services from cable operators, landline and mobile telephony players like Airtel, Jio and BSNL.
Published by Venkatachari Jagannathan
V.Jagannathan (Byline Venkatachari Jagannathan), is a freelance journalist based in Chennai, India covering the country’s space, nuclear, insurance, automobile and several other industries. Jagannathan was with IANS newswire, one of India’s premier news agencies and his articles – news, news analysis, interviews, profiles and others- on various sectors were published in several leading print, online publications within and outside India. He was also with India’s first online business magazine www.domain-b.com. A school and college chess player Jagannathan also writes about Indian chess and has covered World Chess Championships, Chess Olympiads and others.