Starlink May Be Cheaper Via Jio And Airtel Bundles, But Mass Adoption In India Unlikely Without Price Drop: Experts

Elon Musk’s Starlink could become more affordable for Indian consumers if bundled with existing telecom services from Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel, rather than purchased as a standalone product, according to top industry executives and analysts.

Economic Times reported that India’s leading telcos are exploring partnerships with Starlink to offer satellite internet as part of their service suites, potentially smoothing out hardware and installation costs while making it more accessible through easy payment plans.

“The partnership with local telcos will help to minimise the high cost of satellite consumer premises equipment (CPEs) for consumers. On the other hand, telcos can offer satellite connectivity to customers as an added value proposition,” said Prashant Singhal, EY India’s Telecom Sector Leader.

Experts believe such tie-ups would be a “win-win” strategy. "For satcom players, telcos would act as a crucial distribution channel to cost effectively acquire new customers and minimise upfront capex through infra sharing. The success of satellite broadband in India would depend on the right pricing mix," Singhal added.

However, analysts warn that Starlink will remain significantly costlier than fibre and fixed wireless access (FWA) services, with its current pricing almost 10 to 14 times higher than average broadband rates in India.

In the US, Starlink charges between $120 to $500 monthly, with hardware costs between $599 and $2,500. In comparison, India’s broadband ARPU hovers around $6 to $8.

Bernstein noted, “Unless the Indian government offers subsidies to LEO players, Starlink may struggle to compete with more affordable alternatives already available in the country.”

While Starlink may gain ground in enterprise and defence sectors, mass market traction seems unlikely for now. “This would also enable both telcos to expand B2B connectivity and related offerings to enterprises and businesses in these areas,” Citi Research observed.