Maharashtra has signed a Letter of Intent with Starlink Satellite Communications Pvt. Ltd to bring satellite internet to remote and underserved areas. This is the first agreement of its kind in India. The move is part of the Digital Maharashtra mission to expand broadband access across the state.

The deal was signed in Mumbai by Starlink vice-president Lauren Dreyer and state IT Secretary Virendra Singh. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis was present at the event.

The project will focus on tribal districts such as Gadchiroli, Nandurbar, Washim and Dharashiv. These areas have limited or no internet access. Once Starlink gets the needed approvals from the Department of Telecommunications, its low-Earth orbit satellites will provide internet coverage to these regions.

The satellite internet will connect tribal schools, Aaple Sarkar centres, primary health centres, forest outposts, coastal police stations and disaster control rooms. It will also improve connectivity along the Mumbai to Nagpur Samruddhi Expressway and in coastal development zones.

A joint working group will manage a 90-day pilot rollout. Progress will be reviewed every 30, 60 and 90 days. The pilot will operate under the direction of the Chief Minister.

Fadnavis called the deal a step toward ending the digital gap in the state. He said the plan would bring internet to every remote village, school and health centre in Maharashtra.

Lauren Dreyer said Starlink’s goal is to bring fast internet to places traditional networks do not reach. She called the partnership a first-of-its-kind effort.

Starlink is a unit of SpaceX and runs the largest network of low-Earth orbit satellites. The company is planning a full commercial launch in India by early 2026. It is building gateway stations across the country to support this rollout.

The pilot in Maharashtra will show how satellite internet can help in education, telemedicine, emergency communication and public safety. It also supports other state programs like EV development, coastal planning and disaster readiness.

(Source)

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India’s internet landscape is on the cusp of a significant transformation as Airtel and SpaceX forge a new alliance to introduce Starlink’s satellite internet services to one of the world’s most populous nations. This landmark agreement, announced today, is a major step toward bridging India’s digital divide, particularly in underserved and rural regions.

A Groundbreaking Partnership for Connectivity

The deal, however, hinges on SpaceX securing regulatory approval to operate Starlink commercially in India. Once cleared, this partnership will leverage Airtel’s extensive market reach and Starlink’s cutting-edge low-earth orbit (LEO) satellite technology to provide seamless broadband access across the country. It’s a move that could redefine how India’s remote villages, businesses, and essential services like schools and healthcare centers connect to the digital world.

The collaboration envisions Airtel selling Starlink hardware through its retail outlets while also making enterprise-grade satellite connectivity available to business clients. The implications are far-reaching, imagine a scenario where businesses in remote Himalayan towns or deep within the Thar Desert can finally access stable, high-speed internet without relying on patchy terrestrial networks.

This move isn’t Airtel’s first foray into satellite internet. The telecom giant already has an established partnership with Eutelsat OneWeb, another LEO satellite provider. But adding Starlink into the mix supercharges its ambition to dominate the satellite broadband space, offering customers unprecedented coverage and redundancy. With a combination of fiber, terrestrial mobile networks, and now multiple satellite internet providers, Airtel is positioning itself as the most versatile connectivity provider in India.

For SpaceX, cracking the Indian market is a long-awaited breakthrough. India’s sheer geographical and infrastructural challenges make it the perfect proving ground for Starlink’s satellite-powered broadband. With Airtel’s deep understanding of local telecom regulations, consumer behaviors, and distribution channels, SpaceX gets a crucial foothold in a country where connectivity gaps still persist.

If the partnership overcomes regulatory hurdles, Starlink could become a game-changer in India’s telecom space, delivering high-speed internet to areas where traditional broadband has failed.

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After Starlink, Amazon‘s space ambitions took a giant leap forward this Friday, as it successfully launched its first two test satellites for its Project Kuiper, a global internet service in the making. Flying atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, the prototypes are the frontrunners of a large constellation Amazon aims to deploy. With nearly 5,000 Starlink satellites already orbiting Earth, Elon Musk‘s SpaceX has been the only contender in the space-based broadband arena. But now, Amazon is officially in the race.

Amazon has committed to a $10 billion investment in Project Kuiper

Amazon has been relatively hush-hush about the details surrounding these initial Kuiper satellites, produced in the company’s Redmond, Washington plant. However, what’s clear is that Amazon isn’t merely dipping its toes in these cosmic waters. The company has committed to a whopping $10 billion investment in Project Kuiper and has regulatory deadlines to meet. The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is mandating that half of the planned 3,236 Kuiper satellites be operational by 2026.

One of the intriguing aspects of Amazon’s foray into this sector is its focus on affordability. The company plans to manufacture consumer terminals at a cost of $400 each, notably cheaper than SpaceX’s $599 Starlink terminals. This move could potentially make the technology more accessible to individual consumers, aligning with Amazon’s broad customer base.

But the journey to space isn’t without its hiccups. Amazon is currently facing a shareholder lawsuit regarding its bulk launch deal for 83 rocket launches, a record-breaking commercial procurement. Critics claim that Amazon failed to consider more cost-effective options, like SpaceX’s reusable Falcon 9 rockets, which have been central to Starlink’s quick ascent. Time will tell how these two giants fare against each other, and if there will ever be a third contender in this race.

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Earlier this week, ISRO announced that it had successfully launched the LMV3 rocket, which carried a payload that consisted of 36 satellites from OneWeb. The launch was carried out by NewSpace India Limited (NSIL).

The rocket was also deployed from the second launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, India. With this launch, ISRO and NSIL have deployed one of the biggets commercial orders by India’s space organization. Notably, it was also one of the heaviest rockets launched by ISRO. The lift off was done on 23rd October 2022 and the rocket carried a total of 36 OneWeb Gen-1 satellites of about 150 kilograms each. In other words, the total payload had a total weight of 5,796 kilograms.

These satellites were launched to a circular low earth orbit of around 601 kilometers with an 87.4 degree inclination. The separation of the satellites also involved a unique maneuver of the cryogenic stage to orientation and re-orientation. The entire process consisted of 9 phases and took around 1 hour and 15 minutes to complete. After this, OneWeb confirmed that it had started receiving signals from the satellites. The company also took to Twitter to announce the successful lift off and launch from ISRO and NSIL.

Notably, this marks the 14th launch from OneWeb, which brings its satellite constellation size to 462. This means that it has reached 70 percent of its goal to launch around 648 Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites fleet that will deliver high peed low latency connectivity across the globe. OneWeb now only needs to go through four more launches to achieve its global coverage plan by 2023. Interestingly enough, OneWeb’s biggest investor is also Bharti Gobal, which is India’s largest telecom operator.

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The ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) had announced earlier this week that it would be launching the first batch of the 36 satellites for OneWeb around the end of this month.

Notably, this news arrives just weeks after the OneWeb satellites arrived in India for this launch mission. As per the official announcement, ISRO will be launching the first batch of the 36 satellites by the third or fourth week of October 2022. The news arrives after the geopolitical conflict that between Russia and Ukraine, which saw a batch of 36 OneWeb satellites held hostage by Roscosmos, a Russian state backed space agency.

On the other hand, OneWeb had signed a deal with both SpaceX and ISRO to launch the rest of its planned 648 satellites into orbit. Furthermore, these satellites are set to be launched as a part of its global satellite internet network. Once all of these satellites are in orbit, they will be fly in a relay configuration and will cover the entire world. This network would also offer internet connectivity, mainly to various companies across the globe.

The connectivity offered will be used for a wide range of applications ranging from data analytics for agriculture, forestry and mining, and even for backhaul bandwidth for telecom based companies as well to help supplement their terrestrial networks. Interestingly, OneWeb is also being backed by Indian telecom giant Bharti Airtel, and will soon rival other industry giants like Jio-SES and Elon Musk’s SpaceX in the satellite internet market.

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Starlink, which is a part of the SpaceX company led by Elon Musk, has registered its business in India as the company is preparing to apply for licenses from the local government for the internet service business.

Sanjay Bhargava, the country director for Starlink in India said: “SpaceX now has a 100 percent owned subsidiary in India. The name is SSCPL – Starlink Satellite Communications Private Limited and the incorporation date is Nov 1, 2021.”

He also confirmed that the company will now start applying for licenses to start its broadband services as it applies for regulatory approval. It intends to start its satellite-based broadband services next year and had taken orders from customers earlier this year.

Initially, the company will be focusing on offering its services in ten rural Lok Sabha constituencies. The company claims the service is “ideally suited” in areas where connectivity is “unreliable or completely unavailable”.

Starlink is planning to offer 200,000 active terminals in over 160,000 districts by December 2022. It remains to be seen if the company is able to achieve that because the track record paints a different picture. As of August this year, the company had shipped 100,000 user terminals in 14 countries.

Sanjay Bhargava, a former PayPal executive, was hired to lead the India division of Starlink in October this year. Apart from him, the company has hired several key executives in India in recent months, including Parnil Urdhwareshe, who was previously overseeing AMD’s policy efforts in India.

For those who are unaware, Starlink is launching small satellites to build a low-Earth orbiting network to provide low-latency broadband internet services. It is aiming to serve rural communities in India and is working with Niti Aayog, an Indian think tank, to identify 12 districts in the country for the company’s initial deployment.

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Xiaomi and Redmi have been launching new smartphones every month in different markets since the beginning of 2020. Most of their new handsets in China are 5G capable. According to the company’s CEO, it will stop making 4G smartphones for its home country by the end of this year. The Chinese tech company has also started pre-research on 6G along with the development of satellite internet.

Lei Jun, the co-founder and CEO of Xiaomi was recently interviewed by Xinhua, in which he revealed some of his company’s future plans. He also mentioned the difficulties faced by them due to COVID-19 pandemic.

According to him, 5G will revolutionize the industry with applications like 4K / 8K video conferencing, cloud gaming (game streaming), and auto-pilot. Thus, Xiaomi / Redmi has been launching 5G handsets to ramp up the adaptation.

Unfortunately, the coronavirus outbreak in China affected the company’s supply chain severely. Due to which, it was out of 5G handsets in warehouses. This made Xiaomi subsidize factories for 250 million Yuan to increase the production of 5G smartphones. Also, it is planning to halt manufacturing of 4G handsets in China by the end of 2020 to spend more resources on 5G devices.

Xiaomi will be focussing more on mobile and AIoT, which it revealed last year. Also, it will work with the Chinese government to build disaster warning systems and other public service systems relying on 5G technology.

Last but not least, Xiaomi has also begun pre-research on 6G as well as satellite internet technology.

UP NEXT: Xiaomi, Alibaba and Baidu dominate the falling Smart Speaker market in China

(Source)

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