Bharti is ahead of Starlink in India's satcom approval race, while Airtel explores Europe and data center expansion

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Bharti ahead of Starlink in India's satcom race

Highlights

Bharti Group's Eutelsat OneWeb has gained an edge over Starlink in securing approval for satellite internet services in India, with its ground network ready for three years.
Airtel is exploring expansion opportunities in Europe and the UK, while the India-European Union free trade agreement will give new momentum to investment.
Nxtra Data plans to increase capacity from 300 MW to 1 GW, while Airtel will expand aggressively in sovereign data cloud and data centers.

This article was translated from the original. Read the original version by our correspondent here.

Satcom approvals and expansion plans

According to Forbes India, speaking at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum, Sunil Mittal said Bharti Group's Eutelsat OneWeb is ahead of Starlink in the race to secure approval for satellite internet services in India. He said the application was filed five years ago, the ground network has been ready for the past three years, and the satellites have been over India for the last five years, but approval has yet to be granted.

Mittal's comments came days after Elon Musk alleged that some influential business groups were blocking his company's market entry. Mittal said lightly that he would be happy if approval came even a few days before Starlink's.

Satcom services are considered useful in areas where deploying conventional terrestrial networks is difficult or expensive. In March 2025, both Airtel and Jio entered into agreements with SpaceX to bring Starlink's internet services to customers in India.

On Airtel's international expansion, Mittal said opportunities in Europe cannot be ruled out. According to him, the company operates in 14 African countries, also has a presence in the UK, and the group will consider further opportunities if they emerge in Europe. Mittal has previously said that the free trade agreement between India and the European Union this year opens up opportunities for Indian companies such as Airtel to invest in Europe's digital infrastructure.

Focus on data centers, sovereign cloud and AI in India

The group's growth strategy is now expanding beyond traditional mobile connectivity into data centers, satellite communications and financial services. Mittal said India remains the central market for this strategy, while the company also wants to build on its established presence in Africa and investments in the UK.

He listed data centers and sovereign cloud services among Airtel's most attractive opportunities. Bharti Airtel's data center unit, Nxtra Data, has a capacity of 300 MW, and the company aims to increase it to 1 GW over the next three to four years. Mittal said countries are increasingly concerned about digital sovereignty, so the company is rapidly working on developing its own sovereign data cloud to serve Indian enterprises, the government and the armed forces.

Mittal also urged governments to move quickly on AI safeguards. He said AI is advancing so rapidly that policymakers are being left behind, and that shared standards and regulations should be developed in advance rather than waiting to act after an accident.

On the business environment, he said policy predictability and stability are important factors for businesses in India. According to him, some developed European economies offer greater predictability, but that does not automatically translate into market growth, whereas India's ongoing reform process and greater openness to the private sector offer more growth potential.

Our previous report discussed the ongoing situation regarding regulatory approval for satellite communication services in India, where, amid allegations that Starlink's entry was being blocked, the government said that Starlink, OneWeb and Jio were undergoing security assessments at roughly the same stage. The article also noted that despite GMPCS licenses, final spectrum allocation and remaining approvals remain key hurdles to launching commercial services.

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