NEW DELHI: India hit back at claims by tech billionaire Elon Musk that unnamed “oligarchs” had blocked his Starlink entry to protect their monopolies, with officials saying government regulations were “fair”.
The potential launch of Starlink, which provides high-speed Internet access to remote locations by low Earth orbit satellites, has seen fierce debate in India over issues ranging from predatory pricing to spectrum allocation.
In March 2025, Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Jio Platforms said it had signed a deal with Musk’s SpaceX to offer Starlink’s satellite Internet service to its customers.
But it has yet to launch and on Wednesday, Musk said in a post on X that it was being “blocked”.
“Unfortunately, we are being blocked by certain oligarchs in order to maintain their monopolistic chokehold on the Indian people,” Musk wrote.
“You can guess who they are. This is a crime against the people of India!”
India’s Communications Ministry said yesterday that the government had a “fair and non-discriminatory authorisation framework for all telecommunication services”.
It made no mention of Musk, but only a post “being circulated on social media regarding the fairness of India’s regulatory framework for satellite communication services”.
It added telecom licences had been granted to satellite services “as part of its commitment to enable provision of satellite communication services in India”, without specifying the names of the companies.
“Security assessment as part of this process is currently under way in respect of all the three licensees,” it said.
“As and when this process is completed for a licenced entity, it may proceed to the next step”.
The dispute highlights the increasingly competitive race to provide satellite Internet services in India, one of the world’s largest digital markets.
While Starlink awaits final regulatory clearances, industry observers said the eventual launch of satellite broadband could expand connectivity in rural and underserved areas, potentially benefitting millions of users. — AFP
