Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio partner with SpaceX's Starlink for satellite internet in India, facing regulatory hurdles.

By signing deals with India’s two biggest telecom players, the tech tycoon and Trump adviser has improved his odds of breaking into an enormous market.

The Commerce Department has changed its rules in a way that could open the door for Starlink, Elon Musk’s satellite internet service, to become part of a federal $42 billion grant program to bring high-speed service to rural and poor areas of the United States.

The use of Starlink has been adopted by at least one additional federal agency since President Donald Trump began his second term, and it’s being considered by more.

Starlink has extended its reach across the public and private sectors in just a few years. Government-funded contracts include military and emergency services applications. The

India's telecom regulator plans to recommend that satellite broadband spectrum be allotted for around five years to assess initial market adoption, defying Elon Musk's Starlink, which is seeking a 20-year permit,

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is likely to push for satellite internet services to be initially limited to mobile dark zones — regions lacking terrestrial network coverage. This move comes as Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio establish partnerships with SpaceX’s Starlink,