In 2016, Indian telecom operator Reliance Jio bring revolution to India with cheap mobile data plans. The incredible move rattled the chessboard in such a way that the big Indian telecom operators either got bankrupt or merged to fight for existence. Vodafone-Idea merged, both Airtel and Vi user base plummeted awfully.
In the post-Jio world, Airtel has called for another digital uprising. Jio roared into the telecom battle with the introduction of 4G. Airtel is going to introduce a cheap broadband-standard satellite-internet.
Airtel has recently won a bid of a 45% stake at a British satellite-internet connection firm, OneWeb in July. The company recently filed for bankruptcy after starting up back in
What is a satellite internet connection and why it is revolutionary?
Satellite Internet consists of a mega-constellation of Lower Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites. This mega constellation contains over 1000 small LEO satellites. These satellites will beam-form to a location ensuring proper connectivity. The incredible number of satellites will reach even the remotest location of Earth.
OneWeb has already sent 74 functional LEOs before filing bankruptcy. UK government also bought a 45% share at the same organization. The other 10% share of the organization is held by Verizon, Qualcomm, etc.
How is this revolutionary?
Mobile internet connection does need proper towers, while the broadband is the wired version of the mobile coverage. Both of these connections affiliate regular maintenance, proper power supply to serve efficiently.
Still, internet coverage in the wilds of the Siberian plane or razing Thor desert is just an illusion with traditional approaches.
These dilemmas are solved with satellite-internet. Minimal repairs for the LEOs are one of the gifts of this revolutionary system. Where wires or ranged signals from a static tower can't reach, the satellite signal will reach with ease.
Airtel users can expect to use this new kind of internet starting from 2022. Yes, within 2 years this technology will reach the 'last billion', remotest parts of the world.
Elon Musk's SpaceX has a division named Starlink working in the same sector. While Amazon owner Jeff Bezos's Kuiper project is also emerging fast in the satellite internet market. So this one will be a tough pursuit.
Airtel has already lost the 4G battle. The real question is, 'Is this one going to boost Airtel once again?' Or is it gonna fail and kill the Indian telecom operator once and for all? We all have to wait to witness as the result lies in the not-so-distant future.
