By signing deals with India’s two biggest telecom players, the tech tycoon and Trump adviser has improved his odds of breaking into an enormous market.
Starlink, Elon Musk’s satellite communications company, fought behind the scenes for months to break into India’s internet business. The market is dominated by two local giants, Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel, who seemed united in trying to keep Starlink out.
Then, suddenly, this week each of them announced a partnership to bring Starlink into India, pending the government’s approval.
Jio, a branch of India’s biggest corporation, said on Tuesday it would team up with Starlink “to deliver reliable broadband services across the country, including in the most remote and rural regions.” Hours earlier, Airtel had celebrated a deal in similar terms.
The support of two of India’s most influential tycoons, Mukesh Ambani of Reliance and Sunil Bharti Mittal of Bharti Airtel, was a breakthrough for Mr. Musk, whose businesses have tried for years to gain access to India.
Gwynne Shotwell, the president of SpaceX, Starlink’s parent company, said in a statement accompanying Jio’s announcement that she looked forward to “receiving authorization from the government of India to provide more people, organizations and businesses with access to Starlink’s high-speed internet services.” Airtel noted that its partnership would be “subject to SpaceX receiving its own authorizations.” With local partners, who hold the government’s ear, Starlink’s odds look stronger.
As Mr. Musk stands side by side with President Trump, trying to aggressively shrink the government of the United States, his business dealings around the world have become even more prominent. In India, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi has tried to placate Mr. Trump to avoid tariffs, Mr. Musk’s long struggle to crack the market for his car company, Tesla, has attracted a lot of attention. But Starlink could be a bigger prize.