Elon Musk has blamed “certain oligarchs” for holding up the launch of his satellite internet service Starlink in India to maintain their “monopolistic chokehold” on the Indian people. New Delhi has rejected the suggestion that its satellite approval process was unfair.
The SpaceX CEO made the remarks on the social media platform X, which he also owns, on Wednesday while responding to a post arguing that India needs Starlink to connect areas beyond the reach of conventional networks. The post said 11,256 Indian villages still lacked 4G coverage as of May.
“Unfortunately, we are being blocked by certain oligarchs in order to maintain their monopolistic chokehold on the Indian people,” the world’s richest man wrote, adding “You can guess who they are.”
Apart from Starlink, Eutelsat OneWeb, backed by the Bharti Group, and JIO Satellite Communications, backed by Reliance Jio, hold the Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite (GMPCS) license in India.
Reliance Jio is owned by Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani, the second richest person in the country. Bharti Group is owned by billionaire Sunil Mittal. Reliance Jio is also planning its own network of around 1,600 low-Earth-orbit satellites, which could become a direct rival to Starlink’s constellation.
India’s Communications Ministry said in response to Musk’s post that all three licensed operators are at broadly the same regulatory stage, with security assessments underway, and called claims of discriminatory treatment “baseless and misconceived.”
Starlink’s wait to begin commercial operations in India has lasted four years. The company received its telecom license in June last year but still needs the remaining security clearances and spectrum assignment before services can start. Starlink Business Operations Vice President Lauren Dreyer said at the India Mobile Congress on Wednesday that the company has built 20 gateway sites with hundreds of antennas and designed its operations around India’s security requirements.
New Delhi last month approved the main pricing framework for satellite spectrum, including lower charges for services in designated rural and remote areas, although final approval is still pending.
Musk’s comments came the same day neighboring Bangladesh launched a Starlink-powered satellite-to-mobile service with telecom operator Banglalink, becoming the first South Asian country to introduce the service.