Vodafone Idea in talks with Starlink & other satcom providers: CTO

Vodafone Idea

Vodafone Idea has begun discussions with satcom players like Starlink and OneWeb about offering their services in areas where deploying telecom infrastructure and laying fibre is difficult.

“We are in discussions with not only Starlink, but two-three others as well. We will see where it goes, depending on our strategy,”  Jagbir Singh, Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Vodafone Idea, told Moneycontrol during an interaction.

His comments come days after Vodafone Idea’s bigger rivals, Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio, partnered with Elon Musk-led SpaceX to bring Starlink’s high-speed satellite internet service to India.

Jio and Airtel’s separate collaborations aim to enhance connectivity in remote and rural areas. They will distribute Starlink equipment and services through their retail outlets.

“One strategy is to provide services — whether fixed wireless or mobile — in uncovered areas, where satellite makes perfect sense. The other  is to provide fixed wireless broadband  in rural areas and smaller towns, where it is expensive to roll  out such services. For some companies, the strategy is to complement their [terrestrial] services in uncovered areas,  or provide fixed wireless broadband. But our strategy doesn't include fixed wireless right now. So we are discussing to find out the right mix, and who could be the right partner,” he added.

Jio, for instance, has positioned Starlink as complementary to JioAirFiber and JioFiber, extending high-speed internet to the most difficult-to-reach locations. However, Starlink has yet to secure regulatory approvals and spectrum for LEO (low earth orbit) satellite operations in India.

Vodafone Idea is commencing commercial operations of its 5G network in key cities like Mumbai, Delhi, and Bangalore and is also conducting trials for its 5G fixed wireless access (FWA) service. The telco doesn’t have a big FTTH (fibre to the home) broadband play in its 17 priority circles, except for minor operations of YOU Broadband.

“We are conducting trials and looking at the business case, but haven't decided,” Singh said, adding that Vi may decide its 5G FWA launch plans depending on demand from retail and enterprise users.

Starlink’s satellite broadband service is unlikely to gain mainstream adoption in the medium term, particularly in rural India, due to its prohibitively high pricing, said analysts. They added that the high pricing will likely mean that it's positioned as a premium service that complements FWA and fibre, largely for small business users.

Citi Research, in a note, said the tie-ups with Starlink will allow Jio and Bharti Airtel to extend telecom services  to underserved remote areas while also expanding their B2B connectivity and enterprise solutions in regions lacking fibre or FWA infrastructure.

Axis Capital also believes that satellite broadband is unlikely to become mainstream in India as FWA has already addressed many constraints faced by fibre. They added that premium pricing and costly CPE (customer premises equipment) make Starlink more suitable for niche high-speed connectivity needs rather than mass adoption.