Elon Musk makes India inroads with two major deals

Elon Musk has secured a major win in India by signing two back-to-back deals to bring SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet services to the country.

Elon Musk has secured a major win in India by signing two back-to-back deals to bring SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet services to the country. The country’s top telecoms provider Reliance Jio, owned by Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani, said on Wednesday it had inked a deal with SpaceX. “Jio will not only offer Starlink equipment in its retail outlets but will establish a mechanism to support customer service installation and activation,” it said in a statement. A similar agreement with Bharti Airtel, India’s second-largest mobile operator, was announced a day earlier. Gwynne Shotwell, president of SpaceX, said the Musk-owned company looked forward to working with Airtel and Reliance Jio to advance India’s connectivity. Starlink must obtain regulatory approval before proceeding with the deals. Starlink’s surprising move to enter India through collaborations is “a prudent strategy,” according to Neil Shah, a vice president at Counterpoint Research, a market analysis firm.