March 12 (UPI) -- SpaceX signed separate deals with India's two largest wireless companies to expand Internet service using its Starlink broadband company.

"Ensuring that every Indian, no matter where they live, has access to affordable and high-speed broadband remains Jio's top priority," Mathew Oommen, Group CEO of Reliance Jio, wrote Wednesday in a release.

Jio Platforms Limited, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited, and its rival company Bharti Airtel both claimed this new deal will expand Internet coverage across India, particularly to its vast rural regions.

"This collaboration enhances our ability to bring world-class high-speed broadband to even the most remote parts of India, ensuring that every individual, business, and community has reliable Internet," Gopal Vittal, managing director and vice chairman of the New Delhi-based Bharti Airtel Ltd., wrote Tuesday in a separate release.

Starlink, according to Vittal, will "complement and enhance" Airtel's suite of products to "ensure reliable and affordable broadband for our Indian customers -- wherever they live and work."

The deals are still conditional pending approval by Indian authorities and Starlink obtaining the necessary government approvals to begin operating.

Starlink, with about 4.6 million subscribers globally as of 2024, will offer its equipment to Jio and Airtel retail outlets along with installation support, which Airtel is also exploring.

If approved by government regulators, it would give Starlink access to 70% of India's millions of mobile users.

Mukesh Ambani, owner of Jio, and Sunil Bharti Mittal, who owns Airtel, had come together to oppose SpaceX owner Elon Musk's demands that the satellite spectrum be administratively allocated -- in line with Musk's international standards -- instead calling for it to be auctioned.

However, the government ultimately ruled in favor of allocating the spectrum administratively.

The deal comes after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited U.S. President Donald Trump last week as they agreed to a framework to deepen their economic, energy and defense relationship as Modi also sought to head off U.S. tariffs.

Musk at the time also met with Modi to discuss additional cooperation on space technology.

India is the world's second-largest Internet market, but more than 670 million of its more than 1 billion citizens have no Internet access, according to a 2024 report by the global trade group GSMA.