India Needs Local Control of Satellite Kill Switch, Says Bharti Airtel Founder

India must keep control of the kill switch for satellite communications on its own soil and avoid relying on a single company, according to Bharti Airtel Founder and Chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal. The kill switch lets operators cut off, throttle, or restrict a satellite network's service for a single terminal, a region, or an entire country from ground control systems. Governments view this tool as a security measure to shut down service during conflicts, handle security threats, enforce lawful orders, and monitor traffic. Mittal pointed to Ukraine to highlight the risks, noting that the country uses both Starlink and OneWeb. Last month, Ukraine accused SpaceX of undermining its defense by cutting connectivity speeds and disrupting military operations. Mittal stated that warfare is moving to space, with drones, cyber issues, and guided missiles managed from space. He argued that India needs guardrails to secure itself and should not depend on a single country or provider. He also stressed that communication equipment must be secure and everything routed through India. Three companies hold satellite communications licences in India: Jio, OneWeb, and Starlink. The government has stated that all three operators hold provisional spectrum and await security clearance for final launch. Mittal noted that OneWeb's service already works in India and the government occasionally uses its terminals for emergency services. He added that economic adviser Sanjeev Sanyal used a terminal on a boat trip to Oman and streamed all the way through, and that OneWeb was the first company given a licence by the government. On the spectrum debate, Mittal explained that satellite spectrum is shared, with operators at different orbital heights coordinating with each other. He said OneWeb has the highest priority on the KU band. He also noted that satellite broadband will not replace mobile networks and will remain complementary because it is expensive and satellites need replacement every five or six years. Satellite links will instead provide coverage for dark spots in deep rural areas, forests, hills, mountains, high seas, oceans, and the air.

Context

Satellite broadband uses signals from space to reach remote regions where traditional mobile towers and fiber cables cannot easily be installed. Governments closely regulate these networks because the underlying technology can directly impact national security and critical infrastructure during emergencies.