Elon Musk is to introduce his Starlink satellite broadband service to India, but he faces strong opposition from Mukesh Ambani, Asia’s wealthiest individual and the head of Indian telecom giant Reliance Jio.
After meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the U.S., Musk expressed his enthusiasm for launching Starlink in India, emphasising its potential to provide crucial connectivity in remote villages without internet access or adequate high-speed services. However, he did not address the ongoing conflict between Starlink and Reliance over the government’s distribution of satellite broadband spectrum, setting the stage for a clash between two of the world’s richest men for dominance in satellite services in the world’s most populous nation.
Starlink is actively lobbying India to refrain from auctioning the spectrum and instead allocate licenses based on a global trend. The company argues that the spectrum is a natural resource that should be shared among companies, asserting that an auction may impose geographical restrictions that increase costs. This stance is supported by company letters made public by the Indian government earlier this month.
On the contrary, Reliance disagrees and has submitted a public request to the government, urging them to conduct an auction. Reliance argues that foreign satellite service providers should be allowed to offer voice and data services, thereby fostering competition with traditional telecom players. According to Reliance, an auction is necessary to establish a level playing field.
