Jio plans its own satellite network for 600,000 Indian villages, reportedly around 2035 — while Starlink waits on India
From the AI digest for 2026-10-13
What happened: Musk relayed (RT of Joe Hansen, published Monday, October 12, 2026, around 11:15 AM ET) a claim that Reliance Jio "now wants its own satellite network for 600,000 villages, reportedly done around 2035," against the backdrop that roughly one in three Indian schools still lacks internet connectivity by the government's own count — with the post arguing Starlink could serve those villages "this year" and urging regulators to "let it switch on."
What's genuinely new: A development of the thread "space — SpaceX as a US carrier: Starlink Mobile gets FCC clearance," whose most recent entry (October 12) records Musk's India pricing commitment — Starlink "will need to make price affordable … or no one will buy" — timed against Reliance Jio's parent Ambani group's IPO. The window now shows the feud's other side: a reported Jio satellite-building counter with a ~2035 horizon, which is a capital-and-competition datapoint in the India market-access fight. It is X-grade sourcing with a "reportedly" hedge; no regulatory filing or Jio statement appears in the window.
Watch: whether Jio's satellite plan surfaces in a corporate or regulatory document; the licence→commercial conversion timeline for Starlink India; whether the affordability line survives the IPO pricing environment.
Links: Joe Hansen via Elon Musk (X)