January 7 2022: Bharti Airtel has announced that its  joint venture with Hughes Communications India Pvt Ltd (HCIPL), to offer satellite broadband services in India, first  mooted in  2019 has met all regulatory  requirements.
The venture  in which Huges and Airtel have a 67:33 stake, will  offer enterprise broadband and networking solutions, which combine  over 200,000 Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) already in place  for  harnessing Hughes’ GEO-stationary satellite network, with  the upcoming OneWeb network of low  earth orbit or LEO satellites in which Airtel has a major interest.
Said Partho Banerjee, President, and Managing Director, HCIPL: “We are pleased to commence this joint venture, further delivering on our commitment to serving the growing demand for always-on, always-available network connectivity for enterprise and government customers. Combining the proven capabilities of both Hughes and Airtel, the partnership will bring synergies to the forefront – including multi-orbit solutions – for the benefit of customers across the length and breadth of India.”
Added Ajay Chitkara, Director and CEO, Airtel Business: We are focused on supporting and accelerating the digital transformation journeys of our customers through an integrated solutions portfolio. With the combined capabilities of Airtel and Hughes, customers will get access to next-generation satellite connectivity backed by proven enterprise-grade security and service support.”|
On its part the government  is ensuring that a regulatory framework “ whereby private  satellite -based communication service providers, may offer their services in India” is soon in place: In November the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India released a final  Consultation Paper  on “Licensing Framework for Establishing Satellite Earth Station Gateway.”  for this purpose  and a formal promulgation of rules can be expected very soon.