Bharti Airtel's Mittal claims Eutelsat OneWeb is significantly ahead of Starlink in India's satellite internet queue
From the Space digest for 2026-10-14
What happened: From New Delhi (PTI), coverage published October 14 (~12:20 PM ET) reports Bharti Airtel Chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal saying on Wednesday, October 14 that his satellite communications venture, Eutelsat OneWeb, was significantly ahead of Elon Musk's Starlink in the queue for India's satellite internet market — in the middle of the ongoing regulatory disputes.
What's genuinely new: A development of the India leg in "space — SpaceX as a US carrier: Starlink Mobile gets FCC clearance," which already ledgered three licensed satellite operators (October 10–11), Musk's affordability salvo and the Ambani feud (October 12–13). New here: a named third claimant with a direct queue-position assertion — Airtel/Eutelsat OneWeb — moving the fight beyond the Musk-vs-Ambani dynamic, plus a new named source (Mittal).
Watch: Whether OneWeb's claimed queue position converts to commercial rollout ahead of Starlink, the spectrum-pricing decision, and the October 29 FCC vote that shapes the broader carrier picture.
Links: Rediff/PTI, MSN