JioSpaceFiber Satellite-Based Giga Fibre Internet Service Demonstrated at India Mobile Congress

JioSpaceFiber was demonstrated on Friday at the 2023 India Mobile Congress as the country's first satellite-based giga fibre Internet service. The mobile network service provider is working towards the launch of its satellite Internet services in India, to bring access to the Internet in areas that are not supported by traditional networks. JioSpaceFiber is expected to compete with rival service providers like Bharti Enterprises' OneWeb, Amazon's Project Kuiper, and Elon Musk's Starlink, which are all looking to offer satellite internet services in the country.

Jio said it has already connected four remote locations across India with its JioSpaceFiber satellite-based giga fibre Internet service. The areas that have access to the new satellite service — presumably for testing purposes — are Gir in Gujarat, Korba in Chattisgarh, Nabrangpur in Odisha, and ONGC-Jorhat in Assam. The company has not yet provided a timeline for the launch of its services for customers in India, or how much it will cost.

According to the telecom provider the JioSpaceFiber satellite-based giga fibre Internet service will rely on Luxembourg-based satellite telecommunications network provider Société Européenne des Satellites (SES). The network's medium earth orbit (MEO) satellites will provide gigabit-level Internet access using both SES's O3b and new O3b mPOWER satellites.

"Jio has enabled millions of homes and businesses in India to experience broadband internet for the first time. With JioSpaceFiber, we expand our reach to cover the millions yet to be connected,” Reliance Jio Chairman Akash Ambani said in a prepared statement.

There's no word from the company on when JioSpaceFiber will be launched in India, and the service will eventually compete with service providers like OneWeb (Bharti), Project Kuiper (Amazon), and Starlink (SpaceX). Jio will also benefit from being one of the first providers to bring fibre-grade Internet services to users in remote regions, adding to its existing 450 million customers is the country.