NewzElon Musk said in an X post that unnamed 'oligarchs' blocked Starlink's entry into India to protect their monopolies. (File pic)NEW DELHI: India on Thursday 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 ministry of communications said Thursday 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 in 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 licensed entity, it may proceed to the next step".
Bloomberg reported in June that India had effectively frozen final approvals for Starlink’s commercial launch due to security concerns. (EPA Images pic)MUMBAI: Elon Musk accused unnamed rivals of blocking SpaceX’s Starlink satellite broadband network in India, an apparent swipe at billionaires Mukesh Ambani and Sunil Bharti Mittal.SpaceX has been awaiting approval from prime minister Narendra Modi’s government to offer Starlink service in India, where companies controlled by Ambani’s Reliance Industries and Mittal’s Bharti Airtel have spent years building formidable positions in telecom.“Unfortunately, we are being blocked by certain oligarchs in order to maintain their monopolistic chokehold on the Indian people,” Musk posted on his social media platform X. “You can guess who they are...”India’s two biggest private telecom operators, Reliance Jio Infocomm and Bharti Airtel, together account for roughly 910 million broadband subscribers, more than 80% of the country’s market, according to the latest government data.Musk’s broadside marks a sharp turn from last year, when SpaceX signed deals with Bharti Airtel and Reliance’s Jio Platforms to offer Starlink’s services in India.Bharti is one of the largest shareholders in Eutelsat Communications, operator of the Eutelsat OneWeb satellite network that’s one of Starlink’s biggest low-Earth orbit competitors worldwide.Reliance has its own satellite ambitions through Jio Satellite Communications and its joint venture with Luxembourg-based satellite operator Jio, OneWeb and Starlink are among the three companies that have received India’s satellite-communications licenses, although none has yet fully switched on commercial services.Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment sent after regular business hours.Bloomberg reported in June that India had effectively frozen final approvals for Starlink’s commercial launch due to security concerns.
Security agencies under the country’s home ministry withheld clearances for the low-Earth orbit service to begin operations, people familiar with the matter said at the time.Starlink has secured a satellite communications license in India but is still waiting for the security clearances as well as spectrum before it can switch on commercially.Speaking at an industry conference in New Delhi on Wednesday, Lauren Dreyer, vice president of Star…
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