India's largest telecom and digital services company announced Friday it is entering the satellite internet business, the same day it filed papers for an initial public offering. Jio Platforms said it is evaluating the rollout of low-earth orbit satellite communications across India, a market that has drawn significant interest from global competitors including Elon Musk's Starlink.
According to CNBC, Akash Ambani, the managing director of Jio Platforms and chairman of Reliance Jio Infocomm, framed the move in direct terms. "Jio connected India on the ground. Now we must connect India from the skies," Ambani said.
Jio Platforms owns a 100% stake in Reliance Jio Infocomm, India's largest telecom operator. The company said it is partnering with leading global constellation providers to lease satellite capacity, with the goal of a quick rollout of satellite connectivity across the country. At the same time, Jio said it is building its own long-term sovereign satellite capability. The company will also construct its own ground station infrastructure in India, which will support both its partner constellations and its own future satellites.
The satellite announcement came on the same day Jio Platforms filed draft papers for an IPO, though terms of the offering were not disclosed in the filing announcement Friday.
The move puts Jio in direct competition with SpaceX's Starlink, which has been trying to launch service in India for some time. Last year, SpaceX announced deals with both Jio and Bharti Airtel, India's second-largest telecom provider, to roll out Starlink internet services across the country. Progress has been slow. Starlink has not yet launched commercial service in India.
Bloomberg reported last week that India had effectively frozen approvals for Starlink to begin commercial operations, citing security concerns. Lauren Dreyer, vice president of Starlink business operations at SpaceX, pushed back on that account in a post on X. "Starlink remains in active and productive discussions with the Government of India," Dreyer said.
Jio and Starlink share a common goal in India: providing satellite connectivity to remote and underserved areas where ground-based infrastructure is limited or absent. India's geography and population size make it one of the largest potential markets in the world for satellite internet services. The question of which companies will ultimately be cleared to operate, and on what timeline, remains open as of Friday.
Jio Platforms' IPO filing adds another layer to a company that already sits at the center of India's digital economy. The IPO process is now underway, with the draft papers submitted Friday marking the formal start of the regulatory review period.
