Weekly recommended reads from Techarc - 91st Edition

March 15, 2025

Decoding Starlink's Entry to India

First airtel , and then Jio have partnered with Elon Musk-owned Starlink to bring Satellite Internet to India.

Our Chief Analyst and co-founder Mohammad Faisal A. spoke to Vishal Mathur of Hindustan Times on how Airtel and Jio hope to augment their broadband play with Starlink's entry to India. He said, "Pricing of any new technology is always steep. But we also see that it’s costs fall sharply upon adoption. There was a time just 15-20 years back when cellular was out of bounds for many who are using it on daily basis. Initially the price would be high, making it accessible to a niche segment but then eventually it’ll widen access and acceptability."

In Republic Business' take on How Elon Musk's Starlink Will Help India Become $1 Trillion Digital Economy, he said, "In India, though our cellular subscribers are over a billion, there is still a lot of area that isn't in the coverage. Also, as we travel further away from cities and towns, the cellular networks degrade. This is where satellite connectivity could complement and ensure we get end-to-end coverage."

But to take a deep dive into what Satellite Communication (SatCom) is, and how it has the potential to define the future of mobile connectivity, here's Techarc 's take on the technology as this development picks speed.

Satellite Communication: The Future of Mobile Connectivity by 2050

It might sound speculative, but history shows us that it is not impossible. Just three decades ago, who would have thought that cellular operators would make incumbents redundant? SatCom can repeat the same dismantling the present cellular telephony.

The Evolution of Satellite Communication

Satellite communication to smartphones is not a novel idea. The integration activities got serious after 2020, and with the iPhone 14 launch, we saw the first flavor of satellite connectivity in smartphones. Though limited, it was enough to prove that it is not impossible.

Recent Advancements

Fast forward to 2025, there are more updates strengthening satellite connectivity with smartphones. We recently saw Samsung enabling satellite communication in the S25 series using Starlink as the SatCom partner. Apple, in retaliation, also enabled Starlink for the iPhone, which had earlier Globalstar as its SOS SatCom partner. There are already reports about Google soon getting Starlink connectivity.

Other than these, Vivo and a few other tier-1 OEMs have given a top-level view of their roadmap of integrating satellite connectivity.

SatCom as a Backup

Initially, SatCom will act as a backup connectivity in the sense that where users will not find a cellular network, they could still communicate. At present, it’s a simple SMS, but we all know it will progress, and we will see voice and then video calls also possible. This means users will be able pretty much to do all the stuff using a satellite link, which they use cellular networks for.

Read more here.

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