Jio, OneWeb & Starlink Granted Unified License for GMPCS

In the latest development of India's satcom market, country's Department of Telecom (DoT) has issued Unified License (UL) with authorisation for GMPCS (Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite) service for national service area to 3 companies: OneWeb India Communications Private Limited, JIO Satellite Communications Limited, and Starlink Satellite Communications Private Limited, as informed by Minister of State for Communications and Rural Development, Dr Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar in Rajya Sabha on 29th January, 2026. 

DoT is presenting examining application from Amazon Kuiper Services India Private Limited (presently Amazon LEO) while rejected application from Tata-backed Nelco Limited and Hiranandani Group-backed Yotta Network Services Private Limited whereas Connect4sure Technologies Private Limited has withdrawn its application. 

NELCO (National Radio & Electronics Company Limited), established in 1940 and backed by Tata Group is already in talks with multiple LEO players - in 2025, August, Nelco partnered with Eutelsat to offer OneWeb's LEO based satellite internet services. With rejection of Nelco's application to entry into India's upcoming satellite internet market the deal's future remains doubtful. 

But we are not seeing satellite internet soon as only Starlink out of 3 companies are already in the business. OneWeb and Jio Satellite are yet to launch the fully commercial services anywhere in the world.  

Starlink is upgrading its satellite constellation, as the new Gen 2 constellation is significant upgrade from Gen 1 constellation. New upgrade offers better speed (from 50-100Mbps to 100-200+Mbps), better latency (20-40ms to 20-30ms), Direct-to-device (D2D) and improved user hardware (wide angle dish yet lighter and smaller with removable cable, low power utilization, wide operating temperature range). 

Starlink applied for both Gen 1 and Gen 2 to IN-SPACe 3-4 years back. Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe) granted approval for only the Gen 1 constellation, which offers traditional broadband services through its 4,408 low earth orbit (LEO) satellites. Approval for Gen 2 was rejected as Gen 2 uses certain frequency bands which are not permitted in India. Also D2D connectivity was so unique at that time, no regulatory framework was there. As technology develops, IN-SPACe wants Starlink to reapply for Gen 2 satellite connectivity. 

Brief details of different satellite internet companies:

Satellite Company	Indian connection	Notes
Starlink (owned by SpaceX)	Both Jio and Airtel have deal with Starlink to offer their services in India.	On the LEO (low earth orbit) market Starlink is enjoying ultimate monopoly – with 9,422+ satellites serving 9+ million subscribers across 155+ countries.
Eutelsat OneWeb	Airtel’s parent company Bharti Enterprises, through its space arm Bharti Space Ltd, holds approx. 18% of the entity.	Eutelsat Konnect (GEO) and OneWeb (LEO) will
Orbit Connect India	Orbit is the 51:49 joint venture between Reliance Jio Platforms and Luxembourg-based SES S.A. (Société Européenne des Satellites/European Satellite Society).	SES is already offering satellite internet with their MEO/GEO satellites. They are actively incorporating LEO capabilities through strategic partnerships (eg: with Starlink) and specialized projects.
Amazon LEO (previously Project Kuipers)	So far no Indian company has been linked with A-LEO.	It plans limited rollout in 5 countries by mid-2026. LEO wants to offer global coverage with just 3,236 LEO satellites by 2030.
AST SpaceMobile	Vodafone UK is strategic partner of AST, thus Vi also plans to offer its services if regulator approval granted.	AST is different than other LEO/GEO/MEO satellite companies, as they want to connect the satellites to mobile directly.
Viasat (HQ: California)	In January 2026, Viasat announced a collaboration with BSNL to modernise the Indian Navy's satellite communications, aiming to enhance security and resilience for naval operations. In 2023, Viasat acquired Inmarsat. Inmarsat offers unique solution NexusWave – fully managed bonded connectivity solution (GEO Ka-band + LEO + LTE + L-band) for an office-like and home-like internet experience at sea.	Viasat provides in-flight connectivity for over 60 airlines worldwide.   Viasat & Space42 are set to form Equatys to offer D2D services (similar to AST SpaceMobile) using L-band and S-band mobile satellite spectrum. Equatys is considered as neutral towerco in space. UAE operator e& (Etisalat and) would be the first operator to explore using Equatys for D2D services. Abu Dhabi based Space42 was formed by merger of Yahsat (which offers Thuraya mobile satellite network) and Bayanat in 2024.
HughesNet, operated by Hughes Network Systems, Parent company:  EchoStar	No such As of now, HughesNet is limited to North American only with its 3 GEO JUPITER satellites. To boost its connectivity HughesNet is to use the OneWeb LEO constellation.	US company Echostar is the company behind DISH Network. Echostar acquired Hughes in 2011.
Telesat LightSpeed	No such	Telesat Canada was founded by Canada government in 1969. In 1998 it was privatized and sold to Bell Canada. Loral Space & Communications Inc. acquired Telesat in 2007. It has plans to enter into the market in 2027 with LEO satellites.
Globalstar	No such	The Globalstar project was launched in 1991 as a joint venture of Loral Corporation and Qualcomm. From 2000 Globalstar has been offering LEO satcom services with their 48+ satellites. Apple holds 20% stake in Globalstar since 2024.