Jio Platforms and SES to provide Satellite based Broadband Services

Jio Platforms, the technology investment arm of Reliance Jio, has revealed the setting up of Jio Space Technology Ltd.

The new company is a Joint Venture with the veteran satellite connectivity provider SES and will seek satellite internet services to consumers and enterprises in India.

Akash Ambani, Director of Jio, said, "While we continue to expand our fiber-based connectivity and FTTH business and invest in 5G, this new joint venture with SES will further accelerate the growth of multigigabit broadband. With additional coverage and capacity offered by satellite communications services, Jio will connect the remotest towns and villages, enterprises, government establishments, and consumers to the new Digital India. We are excited about this new journey combining our massive reach and customer base with SES’s innovative leadership and expertise in the satellite industry".

With this new entity, Jio Space Technology will rival other entrants in this field, which include JVs such as fellow Indian telecom operator Bharti Airtel and OneWeb, Nelco and TeleSat, and independent foreign entities such as Kuiper and Starlink.

SES operates a total of 70 deployed satellites in geostationary and medium earth orbits, specifically the SES-12 GEO and O3b-mPower MEO satellites.

Jio will offer some of the managed services and gateway infrastructure operations to bring connectivity to the consumer front.

Moreover, the JIO-SES Joint Venture for the satellite internet uses MEO and GEO satellites, as against the common trend of using low earth orbit (LEO) satellites. The latter, which is used by most participants in this sector, includes Nelco-TeleSat, Starlink, Kuiper, and Airtel-OneWeb.