Reliance Jio launched SpaceFiber, a gigabit Internet service, on Friday at the India Mobile Congress in 2023. Many experts have drawn comparisons between Jio SpaceFiber technology and Elon Musk's Starlink satellite phone service.
High-speed Internet connection to hitherto unreached areas of India is intended to be extended via satellite broadband. Mukesh Ambani's communication network has connected four remote locations to demonstrate its wide reach — Gir in Gujarat, Korba in Chattisgarh, Nabrangpur in Odisha, and ONGC in Jorhat, Assam.
Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd.'s chairman, Akash Ambani, told Indian media that Jio has made broadband Internet available to millions of Indian homes and companies for the first time, and that JioSpaceFiber will reach millions of people who are still unconnected.
With gigabit-level access to online governmental, educational, health, and entertainment services, Ambani continued, JioSpaceFiber seeks to give everyone the chance to actively participate in the rapidly developing digital society.
Chief Strategy Officer at SES John-Paul Hemingway expressed gratitude to the Indian government for supporting the Digital India initiative, pointing out that the first space-based fibre-like services are currently being implemented in some regions of the country and will bring about digital transformation even in the most remote areas.
Despite Jio's claims to provide low-latency internet, analysts predict the latency of its JioSpaceFiber service will likely be significantly higher than that of Starlink or other LEO systems.
Meanwhile, the rival company Starlink is facing a significant barrier in terms of "pricing" in the Indian market. With prices almost 10 times higher than those of India's top broadband providers, Starlink's services are much more expensive, which makes it difficult for Starlink to compete successfully in India.