Musk v Ambani: Billionaires battle over India's satellite internet
The race between two of the world’s richest men, Elon Musk and Mukesh Ambani, is intensifying as they prepare to face off in India’s satellite broadband market.
After India's government announced last week that satellite spectrum for broadband would be allocated administratively rather than through auction, this battle has only heated up.
This makes it a reliable option for remote or rural areas where traditional services like DSL - a connection that uses telephone lines to transmit data - or cable are unavailable. It also helps to bridge the hard-to-reach digital divide.
India's telecom regulator has yet to announce spectrum pricing, and commercial satellite internet services are still to begin.
However, satellite internet subscribers in India are projected to reach two million by 2025, according to credit rating agency ICRA.
Having invested billions in airwave auctions to dominate the telecom sector, Jio has now partnered with Luxembourg-based SES Astra, a leading satellite operator.
