Can Elon Musk's Star link compete with Jio and Airtel in India? Will Starlink be cheaper or more expensive than Jio and Airtel? In which areas can Star link outperform Jio and Airtel? Find out.
Airtel ahead of Jio and Starlink
You can't do anything without the Internet these days. India currently ranks second in the world in terms of population and Internet usage. Most people use it via Wi-Fi. Currently, Airtel and Jio are the two major Internet service providers in India. For quite some time, the satellite Internet company Starlink, owned by the world's richest businessman, Elon Musk, has also been preparing to launch its service in India.
In which it has not yet achieved success. Just a few days ago, Elon Musk even tweeted about Starlink to India's richest businessman, Mukesh Ambani. Meanwhile, people are wondering how beneficial Starlink could be for them. Can it provide internet at a cheaper rate than Jio and Airtel? Let us tell you whether Starlink is cheaper or more expensive than Jio and Airtel.
To avail Starlink's service, you first need to know the initial cost and monthly cost, which vary slightly. Starlink's base monthly plan is estimated to cost around ₹8,600, offering download speeds of over 220 Mbps. However, the hardware setup charges will be quite expensive.
To activate its service, users will need to purchase a dish antenna, Wi-Fi router, and cable kit. This costs around ₹34,000. This means that if you want to install Starlink in the first month, you'll need to budget over ₹42,000 initially.
Budget-Friendly Plans from Jio and Airtel Fiber
Now let's talk about the two biggest giants in the Indian telecom market: Jio and Airtel. Both companies have brought fiber broadband to every home in the country. Talking about their costs, Jio Fiber starts at just ₹699 per month, offering smooth, uninterrupted speeds of 100 Mbps. For higher speeds, you can get 300 Mbps for ₹1,499, and up to 1 Gbps for ₹3,999.
Airtel Xstream Fiber is also roughly equivalent. Airtel's 100 Mbps plan starts at ₹799, while 300 Mbps costs ₹1,599, and 1 Gbps ultra-fast speeds cost ₹3,999. The advantage over Jio and Airtel is that they don't require any hardware charges. Furthermore, due to their underground lines in cities, speeds are quite good.
Which is a profitable deal for you?
From a technology perspective, if you live in a city, town, or area with a Jio or Airtel fiber line, Starlink is not a viable option for you. Fiber broadband is not only ten times cheaper than Starlink, but it's also immune to clouds, heavy rain, or inclement weather.
On the other hand, Starlink can also operate in remote areas where no telecom company has laid cable to date, such as the valleys of Ladakh, the dense forests of the Northeast, remote border areas, or even ships in the middle of the ocean.
This means Starlink can provide internet access in places where fiber access is impossible. However, paying a bill of ₹8,600 wouldn't be wise for a typical urban user working from home. Therefore, Jio-Airtel is more beneficial for general needs, and Starlink is more beneficial for non-network zones. However, Starlink service hasn't launched in India yet, so people don't have this option.
