- A Snapshot of the Indian Telecom Industry
- The Financial Health of the Industry
- The Challenge of Connecting Rural India
- Starlink’s Entry into India: How It Works, Who It’s Tied Up With, and What’s Next
- Conclusion
Imagine an industry that connects over a billion people, powering everything from your family WhatsApp group to the UPI payment you make at a local kirana store. That's India's telecom industry, a global giant that forms the backbone of our digital lives.
Think of the market as a race with a few powerful runners. Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel are staying ahead by always coming up with better and cheaper services. Other players like Vodafone Idea and the government-owned BSNL and MTNL are also in the race, though they cover less ground.
With the second-largest number of internet users in the world, India's telecom story isn't just about size; it's about its incredible impact on daily life.
A Snapshot of the Indian Telecom Industry
The industry has transformed dramatically, moving from the basic 2G era of simple calls and texts to the ongoing rollout of super-fast 5G. Today, the market is largely dominated by Jio and Airtel, who together serve about 75% of all wireless subscribers. As of April 2025, Jio holds the biggest share at 40.76%, with Airtel following closely at 33.65%. Vodafone Idea holds 17.66%, while BSNL and MTNL have smaller shares.
But even with this massive reach, a "digital divide" exists. While many in cities are enjoying 5G, about 9 crore Indians are still on 2G networks. Only 22% of the country has 5G coverage, while the vast majority (69%) uses 4G. To bridge this gap and power the 5G revolution, companies are focused on fiberisation. Think of data travelling on a narrow country road versus a multi-lane expressway. Fibre optic cables are the expressways, allowing data to move at incredible speeds. Currently, only 36% of our telecom towers are connected to these data expressways, but plans are underway to install 12 lakh more towers to strengthen the network.
The Financial Health of the Industry
Financially, the telecom industry is making a strong comeback. In the fourth quarter of the 2025 financial year, revenues are expected to grow by 16–17% year-on-year, reaching an estimated ₹2.68 lakh crore (US$ 30.76 billion), the highest since Reliance Jio’s entry.
However, profitability remains a challenge. This is best understood through ARPU (Average Revenue Per User). Simply put, the money you pay for your monthly mobile recharge is your contribution to a company's ARPU. India's ARPU is one of the lowest in the world at just ₹198 per month. To put that in perspective, it's ₹3,913 in the US and ₹542 in China.
This disparity highlights two things: Airtel caters to a more premium customer base, and there is significant room for long-term ARPU expansion, which could lead to higher revenues and profitability across the board.
The Challenge of Connecting Rural India
Despite our huge network, millions in rural areas still lack quality internet. This isn't due to a lack of demand, but the high cost of building infrastructure. For example, laying just one kilometre of fibre optic cable can cost ₹5–6 lakh and can go up to ₹1 crore in big cities. This makes it financially unviable for companies to invest heavily in remote regions.
With only 36% of towers connected by fibre, high-speed internet remains a distant dream for many outside of big cities. This gap between urban and rural India is a major hurdle to achieving growth that includes everyone.
Starlink’s Entry into India: How It Works, Who It’s Tied Up With, and What’s Next
Starlink, the satellite internet arm of SpaceX, has officially entered the Indian market and is gearing up for commercial deployment. Unlike traditional broadband that relies on underground cables or cellular towers, Starlink delivers high-speed internet through a constellation of low-earth orbit (LEO) satellites that circle the planet at about 550 km altitude. This proximity drastically reduces latency, making it suitable even for video calls and real-time applications and enables coverage in remote or hilly regions where fibre is hard to reach.
As of May 2025, Starlink had launched 7,578 satellites globally (with ~7,556 active), giving it by far the largest LEO fleet in the world. But this is just the beginning. SpaceX plans to expand this constellation to over 42,000 satellites in the coming years. Because LEO satellites typically last only 5–7 years, maintaining and expanding this network requires continuous launches, making Starlink a capital-intensive but scalable platform.
For India, Starlink is setting up the necessary ground infrastructure before going live. Three satellite gateway earth stations in Mumbai, Pune and Indore are planned, along with a point-of-presence (PoP) in Mumbai to connect the satellite network to India’s fibre backbone. These steps are critical, as India mandates data localisation and requires all user traffic to be routed through domestic gateways.
A major boost to Starlink’s rollout is its partnership with India’s top two telecom operators: Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio. Announced in March 2025, the partnerships allow both telcos to distribute Starlink terminals (dish and router kits) through their existing online and offline channels. Airtel is targeting rural households, schools and healthcare centres where fibre doesn’t yet reach, while Jio plans to integrate Starlink with its JioFiber and JioAirFiber offerings, expanding broadband access in underserved areas.
The tie-up is mutually beneficial: Airtel and Jio get access to satellite bandwidth without investing in their constellations, and Starlink benefits from the telcos’ massive retail reach, local service networks, and fibre-based backhaul. While these aren’t exclusive deals, both telecoms will continue to invest in their networks, and they will significantly accelerate Starlink’s rural distribution and market penetration.
Starlink’s first phase in India will be a limited rollout in 2025–26, targeting selected urban and nearby rural areas. This pilot will offer 600–700 Gbps of capacity, aimed at 30,000–50,000 users. If successful, the service will scale up rapidly with a target capacity of 3 Tbps by 2027, enough to serve millions. Commercial availability is expected to begin by late 2025 or early 2026, once final spectrum and regulatory approvals are in place.
Conclusion
India's telecom sector is at a major turning point. It has the second-largest wireless user base in the world, massive growth potential in broadband, and ongoing 5G expansion. At the same time, it faces problems like low ARPU, rural connectivity issues, and infrastructure costs.
The entry of Starlink, backed by partnerships with Jio and Airtel, offers a promising solution to India's rural internet challenges. Studies show that a 10 percentage point increase in fixed broadband access can boost GDP by up to 1.38% in developing countries. For India, this makes rural broadband not just a connectivity goal, but it’s a key part of growing the economy.
The digital and economic future of over a billion people depends on telecom access. India's next phase of growth might come from satellites bringing internet from space.