Airtel, Jio long opposed Musk’s Starlink – so why have they suddenly agreed to get it to India?

After months of anticipation, India finally rolled out the red carpet for the Elon Musk-owned American telecommunications giant Starlink on Tuesday. In a surprising move, Starlink will enter India in partnership with the country’s two biggest players in the sector: Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio.

In the months leading up to the deals, both Indian firms had expressed alarm over Musk’s entry into the Indian market.

In an interview with Moneycontrol in February, Bharti Airtel chairman Sunil Mittal had said that Starlink was a “formidable competitor”. Earlier in October, Jio had argued that "[a]ny preferential treatment of satellite-based services” should be “firmly rejected”.

The competition between the three telecom giants is driven by the massive size of the Indian telecom market. India has a total of 94.5 crore broadband internet subscribers and 118.9 crore telephone subscribers, according to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. This large market is now effectively a duopoly given that Jio and Airtel jointly control over 81% of India’s market for wired and wireless broadband services, according to the latest available regulator data.

Foes turned friends

Jio and Aitel’s anxieties over Musk’s entry are not unjustified. Starlink has disrupted markets by offering cheaper internet than local providers, like in Africa.

Mukesh Ambani-led Jio Platforms saw Starlink as a major challenger. Over the...

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