Challenge to Elon Musk's Starlink? Intelsat, Inmarsat and more global players eye India's $2.3 bn satcom market; initial partnerships in motion
Global satellite operators are competing for India's $2.3 billion satcom market, which is expected to increase nearly ten times within three years to become one of the world's largest markets.
Several international operators, including Luxembourg's Intelsat, UK's Inmarsat, Singapore Telecom, Korea's KT SAT, Thailand's IPSTAR, and Indonesia's PT Telekomunikasi, are increasing their satellite capacity, as reported by Economic Times.
These operators intend to resell their capacity to major satellite communication companies aiming to provide broadband-from-space services to millions of consumers in India.Although not all of these companies are direct competitors, these reselling agreements could enhance the capabilities of satellite communication firms to compete with the globally leading satcom operator, Starlink, owned by Elon Musk.
Presently, Starlink, Reliance Jio-SES JV, and Bharti Group backed-Eutelsat OneWeb have received necessary approvals for Indian satcom services, whilst Amazon's Kuiper and Apple partner Globalstar have submitted permit applications.
The emerging Indian satcom market is projected to reach $20 billion by 2028, driven by direct-to-cell communications service introduction, according to KPMG. Direct-to-cell enables satellite signals to reach mobile phones directly.
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Initial partnerships underway
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's Nelco, which revealed a reselling partnership with Eutelsat OneWeb on Monday, has included Koreasat-7 satellite for Ku-band operations, according to regulatory documents. KT SAT, a subsidiary of South Korea's largest telecom provider KT Corp, operates this satellite.
"Nelco uses multiple GEO satellites -- Indian as well as foreign -- to offer satcom services in India," said PJ Nath, managing director and chief executive officer of Nelco, as quoted by ET.
"The KT-Sat is one of the satellites on which it has procured capacity, which has been authorised by IN-SPACe."
Nath indicated Nelco's plans for multi-orbit satellite communications. "While it has access to a large amount of GEO satellite capacities, the OneWeb partnership will offer the LEO satellite capacity. The satcom services, whether GEO or LEO satellite based or a combination of GEO & LEO, will depend on the specific use cases and application requirements," Nath added.
Intelsat, recently acquired by Luxembourg's SES, has added Intelsat 36, 17, 20, and 39 satellites for C band operations. Despite its joint venture with Jio Platforms, SES is strengthening its independent position through its Indian division, according to company sources.
US-based Viasat, which acquired British firm Inmarsat in 2023, has recently incorporated Inmarsat satellites for Indian operations. "We will utilise our unique approach and extensive expertise to make a significant impact by using advanced satellite technology to help connect the most remote and hard-to-reach regions in partnership with top technology and manufacturing companies in India," said Gautam Sharma, managing director, Viasat India, quoted by ET.
Viasat has served India's defence, civil, and commercial sectors for nearly twenty years, maintaining engineering centres in Chennai and Hyderabad.
Meanwhile, in December, IPSTAR had said, "Thaicom's satellite services will focus on delivering broadband satellite solutions to enhance India's digital infrastructure, targeting not only rural markets but also underserved areas with connectivity challenges."
These partnerships coincide with increased activity in India's satcom sector. Space-based broadband services are anticipated to commence this year, pending government spectrum allocation.
Jefferies' research indicates Starlink could attract 180,000 Indian subscribers initially, increasing to 5.7 million by 2030. Starlink currently serves 5 million subscribers across 94 countries, predominantly in the US.
India represents the largest territory where commercial satellite services await deployment, as Russia and China restrict foreign satcom operations. Consequently, satcom providers must increase capacity significantly to ensure nationwide coverage and reliable network speeds.
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