Musk accuses oligarchs of blocking Starlink

Elon Musk posted on X that unnamed oligarchs are blocking Starlink's launch in India to maintain their monopolistic chokehold, calling it a crime against the people of India.

“crime against the people of India”

India rejects discrimination claims

India's Ministry of Communications said its regulatory framework for satellite communications is fair and non-discriminatory, with Starlink and two other licensed operators at broadly the same regulatory stage.

“fair and non-discriminatory”

Musk questions Ambani's influence

On Thursday, Musk questioned the influence of Reliance Industries chairperson Mukesh Ambani, asking on X whether Ambani is the real boss of India after claiming Starlink had spent years complying with regulations.

“Is Ambani the real boss of India?”

Starlink's five-year struggle in India

Starlink has spent more than five years trying to enter India, a market with more than a billion internet subscribers, but has yet to begin commercial services despite securing key regulatory approvals.

Starlink partners with Indian telecom giants

Starlink partnered with telecom giants Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel last year and appointed former Payoneer executive Prabhakar Jayakumar to lead its India operations in December.

Starlink's infrastructure already in place

Starlink said it has more than twenty gateway sites and hundreds of antennas on the ground in India, adapted to meet the country's regulatory, security and data-sovereignty requirements.

Previous clash over spectrum allocation

Starlink previously clashed with India's largest telecom operators over spectrum allocation. Starlink pushed for administrative assignment while Reliance Jio argued for auction. India sided with Starlink's preferred approach.

Competitors pursue their own satellite services

Jio is working with satellite operator SES on satellite broadband, while Airtel is a major backer of Eutelsat OneWeb, even as both have agreed to distribute Starlink in India.

Starlink launches in Bangladesh instead

While the timing of Starlink's India launch remains unclear, the company this week launched Starlink Mobile, which connects ordinary phones to satellites, in neighbouring Bangladesh.