India Must Hold Satellite Kill Switch, Sunil Mittal Says
Bharti Airtel founder Sunil Bharti Mittal says India must control the satellite 'kill switch' on its own soil and avoid depending on one company. His remarks come as the government weighs security conditions that will decide when satellite broadband goes live.
Bharti Airtel Founder and Chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal said on November 13, 2026, that India must hold satellite "kill switch" control on its own soil. The government is weighing security conditions that will decide when satellite broadband goes live in the country.
"The kill switch, as we call it, should not be sitting somewhere else," Mittal said in an interview marking the 50th year of Bharti Enterprises. "India must have control over its own space destiny." He did not name a company in that remark.
What a kill switch does
A kill switch is the ability to cut off, throttle or restrict a satellite network's service. It can target a single terminal, a region or an entire country, and it runs from the operator's control systems and ground gateways.
In satellite broadband, user terminals connect to satellites. The satellites relay traffic to ground stations and then to the internet. Whoever runs the control and gateway systems can, in principle, disable users or reroute their data.
Governments see the switch as a security tool. It would let them shut down service quickly in a conflict, during a security threat or to enforce lawful orders, and it would let them monitor and intercept traffic.
It cuts both ways. If a foreign operator holds the switch, a country's military, emergency and civilian users can lose connectivity because of a decision made elsewhere. If the government holds it, that same power can be used to cut off access in national emergencies or for strategic reasons.
Security clearances, in-country gateways and monitoring requirements will shape who can launch satellite broadband in India and how fast.
Ukraine example
Mittal pointed to Ukraine, saying that "if Ukraine is using Starlink, it's also using OneWeb now." Ukraine has accused Elon Musk's SpaceX of undermining its ability to defend itself by cutting connectivity speeds and disrupting military operations. The restrictions left some Ukrainian strike and interceptor drones virtually unusable.
Mittal said government scrutiny of satellite operators is justified. He argued that warfare is moving to space. "Whether it's drone or it's cyber issues, or indeed guided missiles and all, they're all going to be managed from space," he said.
No single provider
"Everybody in the world needs to have control over its security," Mittal said. "There India will need to have guardrails. It'll need to secure itself."
He said India should not lean on one supplier. "Importantly, it may need to have different players. You can't just depend on one country or one company," he said. He added that India must ensure "the security of the apparatus, of the equipment, the communications coming down into the ground to be monitored," and that "everything should be routed through India."
Mittal said Eutelsat OneWeb is building a secure European communications network, in which he said the EU is spending 14-15 billion euros. He said that spending has drawn attention to the company.
He said OneWeb's service already works in India. "The government occasionally uses their terminals for emergency services," he said. As an example, he said economic adviser Sanjeev Sanyal took a terminal on a boat trip to Oman.
"He was streaming all the way through," Mittal said. "It is, right now, fully available. We can just switch it on soon."
