India, April 17 -- Amazon's USD 11.57 billion acquisition of Globalstar marks a decisive escalation in the satellite broadband race, signalling a shift from constellation scale to spectrum-led, device-centric connectivity.

The deal strengthens Amazon's low-earth orbit (LEO) ambitions-part of its Amazon Leo programme, while positioning it directly in competition with Elon Musk's Starlink, which continues to lead the global satellite broadband market in scale.

However, the acquisition is not aimed at narrowing the gap in satellite numbers. Instead, it is a move to secure control over the access layer. By acquiring Globalstar, Amazon gains licensed spectrum and advances its direct-to-device (D2D) capability-two assets that are harder to re...