Intelsat, Inmarsat vying for a share in India's $2.3 billion market boom

New Delhi, Aug 13 Several global satellite operators like Intelsat, SES (both from Luxembourg), and Inmarsat (from the UK) are vying for a share in India's $2.3 billion satcom market boom, according to media reports.

The companies, which also include Singapore Telecom, KT SAT (Korea), IPSTAR (Thailand), and PT Telekomunikasi (Indonesia), are adding satellite capacity to tap into India's fast-growing satcom market -- projected to reach $20 billion by 2028.

These are also forging partnerships to build resell capacity with larger satcom operators who plan to offer broadband-from-space services to millions of Indian consumers.

The move will help them compete against Elon Musk's Starlink -- the world’s dominant satcom operator with a constellation of 7,578 satellites.

India has, currently, provided necessary approvals to Starlink, Reliance Jio-SES JV, and Bharti Group backed-Eutelsat OneWeb to offer satcom services in the country. Amazon’s Kuiper and Apple partner Globalstar are also in the pipeline and have applied for permits.

Meanwhile, the opening up of direct-to-cell communications service, which refers to a signal from a satellite directly to a mobile phone, has strengthened the growing satcom market in India.

As part of this, Tata Group's Nelco has recently partnered with Eutelsat to deliver OneWeb low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite connectivity across India.

Nelco also added the Koreasat-7 satellite to its portfolio for operating in the Ku-band, as per regulatory filings.

The satellite is operated by KT SAT -- a wholly owned unit of KT Corp -- South Korea’s largest telecom service provider and also the country’s sole satellite service provider.

Similarly, Intelsat, acquired by Luxembourg’s SES this year, added Intelsat 36, 17, 20, and 39 satellites for operating in the C band.

SES already has a joint venture with Jio Platforms but is also building muscle to compete individually through its Indian unit, as per media reports.

US-based Viasat, which had acquired British satcom firm Inmarsat in 2023, recently added Inmarsat satellites for the Indian market.

These partnerships come amid heightened activity in India’s satcom market.

The broadband-from-space services are expected to start later this year, after the government grants spectrum to permitted companies, the reports said.

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