Indian telco Reliance Jio sought to supplement its terrestrial mobile and fiber-to-the-home networks, forming a joint venture (JV) with SES to deliver satellite broadband service across the country.
The companies said the JV, known as Jio Space Technology Limited, will marry SES’ satellite technology with Reliance subsidiary Jio Platforms’ sales channels to more effectively target the market and neighboring regions. Specifically, the JV will use SES’ geostationary and medium earth orbit constellations to deliver service.
Jio Space will be able to tap up to 100 Gbps of capacity from SES to offer multi-gigabit links to enterprises, retail customers and for mobile backhaul. The new company will be responsible for developing and delivering the necessary gateway infrastructure across India to provide service there.
“While we continue to expand our fiber-based connectivity and FTTH business and invest in 5G, this new joint venture with SES will further accelerate the growth of multigigabit broadband,” Akash Ambani, director of Jio Platforms, said in a statement. “With additional coverage and capacity offered by satellite communications services, Jio will be able to connect the remotest towns and villages, enterprises, government establishments and consumers to the new Digital India.”
Jio Platforms will serve as an anchor customer for the JV and has already inked a multi-year capacity purchase agreement worth $100 million. As part of the deal, Jio Platforms will provide managed services and gateway infrastructure operations services to the JV.
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Jio Space joins an increasingly crowded field of contenders in targeting the Indian market with satellite broadband. Last year, SpaceX’s Starlink service, Amazon’s Project Kuiper, Bharti Airtel and OneWeb and Telesat and Tata Group all already indicated plans to do the same.
Both SpaceX and OneWeb were originally expected to launch service in the country this year. However, Starlink’s India director resigned earlier this year after officials in the country told SpaceX it had to stop taking Starlink preorders and refund the deposits it had already received because it had not yet secured a license to operate there.
In addition to regulatory hurdles, Anil Prakash, director general of the Satcom Industry Association, previously pointed to consumer price points and device availability as key challenges for companies looking to deploy satellite services in India.