Sunil Bharti Mittal, founder and chairman of Bharti Enterprises, told reporters that his group had moved further along the regulatory approval process for satellite internet services in India than Elon Musk's Starlink, pointing to an extended period of groundwork the company had laid ahead of launching the offering.
At the Bloomberg New Economy Forum, a question put to Mittal turned to remarks Musk had directed at India's telecom billionaires ahead of Starlink's planned entry into the country. Bharti's prolonged pursuit of the required approvals, along with its stated preparedness to launch, formed the basis of Mittal's reply.
Bharti's application for the necessary regulatory approvals had been lodged five years prior, according to Mittal. He noted that Bharti's ground-based network had been operationally ready for three years and its satellites positioned over India for five, adding that the company was waiting on regulatory clearances and placing Bharti ahead of Starlink in the queue for those approvals.
Groundwork for bringing satellite connectivity to India had reached an advanced point, Mittal noted, though obtaining the outstanding security approvals from authorities remained a prerequisite before any rollout of services could proceed. Pending regulatory clearance, Bharti could extend connectivity to parts of the country that have long lacked it — among them distant regions where conventional telecom networks have struggled to take hold.
Orbital communication networks offer a way to extend reach into isolated and poorly served regions where ground-based infrastructure leaves gaps in connectivity. Bharti's footprint on the African continent also came up in Mittal's remarks, with the group having rolled out satellite services there through a tie-up with an international provider.
That background in satellite operations, Mittal indicated, positions the company to advance its India expansion ambitions once the necessary approvals from regulators are obtained. Mittal went on to highlight how digital infrastructure could serve as a foundation for broader economic growth, extending his remarks well past the topic of satellite communications.
Keeping levies on digital products and telecommunications as low as practicable, he contended, would allow technology to generate broader gains across the economy. Mittal also noted that access to affordable connectivity has become a practical necessity for businesses, public services, and everyday consumers, given their reliance on digital platforms.
Broadening network reach so that connectivity becomes available to people in more remote and underserved parts of the country, he added, sits at the heart of what telecom operators are expected to deliver as India pursues its wider digital development goals.
Turning to the worldwide conversation on trade friction, geopolitical strain, and the restructuring of supply networks, Mittal put forward the view that multinational corporations had permitted China to accumulate an outsized foothold across a range of industries. Pharmaceuticals, vehicle parts, and consumer electronics were among the sectors he pointed to as areas where China has built a substantial manufacturing presence.
He noted that widespread satisfaction with China's ability to deliver quality output at competitive prices now sits alongside mounting geopolitical friction that is straining long-standing supply arrangements and trade relationships. Countries whose manufacturing bases rely heavily on components and materials sourced from China would encounter the greatest adjustment difficulties during any such shift, according to Mittal.
Mittal noted that trimming an annual trade gap of $100 billion with China to half that amount would be an uphill task for any economy whose manufacturers and industries had grown broadly reliant on Chinese-sourced goods. He argued that reshaping supply networks away from concentration on any single trading partner would take time — a matter of decades rather than months — and noted that governments around the world were growing more attuned to the vulnerabilities that come with over-reliance on one source.
