Sunil Bharti Mittal Wants India to Hold Satellite Kill Switch
Bharti Airtel founder Sunil Bharti Mittal says India must keep control over satellite communications and avoid relying on one foreign provider, as Starlink and Eutelsat OneWeb wait for operating clearances while the government weighs security conditions.
Bharti Airtel founder and chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal said in an interview published November 13, 2026, that India must keep control of the "kill switch" for satellite communications operating in the country. Sunil Bharti Mittal, India's telecom veteran, also warned against dependence on a single foreign provider.
The government is weighing security conditions for the launch of satellite broadband services. Mittal spoke as Bharti Enterprises marks its 50th anniversary.
"The kill switch, as we call it, should not be sitting somewhere else. India must have control over its own space destiny," he said.
A contest over market access
Elon Musk's Starlink and the Bharti-backed Eutelsat OneWeb are both waiting for regulatory clearances to begin commercial operations in India. Reliance's Jio Satellite Communications is the third company holding a satellite communications licence.
Mittal said OneWeb's ground infrastructure had been ready for three years. Its satellites, he said, had been hovering over India for five years, yet the company still awaited the government's signal to start commercial services.
A licence does not automatically allow commercial operations. Spectrum assignment and compliance with security requirements are still needed before services can launch.
The government has said all operators must meet the same regulatory and security requirements, with final clearances depending on compliance. Government sources have repeated that the rules apply equally to every company.
Security argument
For Mittal, the issue goes beyond commercial rivalry and spectrum allocation. Satellite networks are becoming strategic infrastructure, with implications for national security, military communications and control of critical data flows.
He pointed to the changing nature of warfare. "Whether it's drones or it's cyber issues, or indeed guided missiles and all, they're all going to be managed from space," he said.
"Everybody in the world needs to have control over its security," he added.
India should not rely on one country or one company for critical communications, Mittal argued. "Importantly, it may need to have different players. You can't just depend on one country or one company," he said.
He said India must be able to monitor the equipment and communications coming down to the ground. "Everything should be routed through India," he said.
What a kill switch means
A kill switch is the ability to disable, restrict or throttle satellite connectivity. That could apply to a single user terminal, a particular region or an entire network.
Satellite broadband relies on user terminals, satellites in orbit and ground infrastructure. Gateways link satellite traffic to land-based networks and the internet.
Control over these systems can decide whether services stay available, how traffic is routed and who can step in during a security emergency.
