2 months ago
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For years, a stash of computers has been gathering dust at a local school in Daringbadi, a village nestled into the lush hillside of India’s eastern state of Odisha that’s reachable only by twisting mountain roads. The computers aren’t good for much until stable internet arrives. If satellite internet providers such as Elon Musk’s Starlink or any number of rivals were allowed to operate in India, it would be a game changer, says Bidesi Naik, a teacher at the school. “Any company that can provide better service can really make a change to our village,” he says. Until then, students looking for bandwidth might be found climbing hills and trees in desperate search of a mobile signal.
Across India, the world’s most populous country, about one-quarter of the nation’s landmass remains unconnected to the internet, says mobile operator Bharti Airtel Ltd. Neither terrestrial wireless phone networks nor traditional fiber internet has fully resolved the issue, leaving hundreds of millions of people offline. But as low-earth orbit (LEO) satellite networks proliferate, there’s a new chance for the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to solve that digital divide.
