Abstract:
SpaceX’s Starlink plan to enter India has once again become controversial. On October 7, local time, SpaceX founder Elon Musk publicly accused India of the existence of "certain oligarchs" who are trying to maintain their monopoly in the telecommunications field by preventing Starlink from entering the market. Musk did not name him directly, but the outside world generally linked his remarks to India's two major telecom companies, Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel.
Responding to a post on social platform He further said that the situation was a "crime against the people of India".
Musk’s remarks come as Starlink has obtained the main license required to provide satellite communication services in India, but commercial services have not been officially launched yet. The company is still waiting for the Indian government to complete the final regulatory procedures including security review and spectrum allocation.
Just hours before Musk made the above remarks, Lauren Dreyer, SpaceX's vice president of Starlink business operations, said at the India Mobile Communications Conference that the company has completed most of the infrastructure required to operate in India and is only waiting for final government approval to launch services.
Dreyer revealed that Starlink has built approximately 20 ground gateway stations in India, deployed hundreds of antennas, and established corresponding technical and operational mechanisms in response to the security requirements proposed by the Indian government. She said that Starlink has designed its local business structure in accordance with India's regulatory requirements and ensured that Indian users' data remains in India.
Dreyer also said that Starlink has been working with the Indian government, operators and other industry participants for the past five years, hoping to understand the local market and regulatory environment and prepare for formal operations. She emphasized that the company has completed the necessary investments and now has the conditions to start services.
One of the biggest problems Starlink faces in India is how to complete safety approval before commercial operation. The Indian government requires satellite communications companies to meet a series of national security conditions, including implementing necessary controls on satellite systems and ensuring that relevant data complies with Indian regulatory requirements.
In addition to Starlink, India currently has Eutelsat OneWeb and Jio Satellite Communications that have obtained relevant licenses in the field of satellite communications. This means Starlink isn't the only one waiting for final regulatory approval.
The Indian government has currently proposed a satellite communication spectrum charging plan, which plans to charge 5% of the adjusted total revenue of relevant companies. However, the plan still needs further approval at the government level. Whether satellite communications companies can ultimately launch commercial services also depends on a series of procedures including spectrum allocation and security licensing.
The reason why Musk pointed his finger at India’s local telecommunications giants is related to previous disputes in the Indian satellite communications market over the spectrum allocation method.
Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel currently occupy a significant share of India's traditional telecom market. Both companies have previously expressed different opinions on how satellite communication spectrum is allocated, and are particularly concerned about whether satellite Internet companies can obtain spectrum resources in a different way from traditional telecom operators.
But the complication is that Airtel has actually entered into a partnership with SpaceX. In March 2025, Airtel announced an agreement with SpaceX to explore providing Starlink services to its customers in India, and to consider selling Starlink equipment through Airtel stores while providing related services to enterprise customers.
The two parties also plan to explore using Starlink to provide Internet connectivity to communities, schools and medical centers in rural areas of India, and use Airtel's existing terrestrial network infrastructure to support Starlink operations in India.
Therefore, there is actually both competition and cooperation between Airtel and SpaceX. On the one hand, Airtel is an important player in India's traditional broadband and mobile communications market, and on the other hand, it may become an important channel for Starlink to enter the Indian market.
The situation at Reliance Jio is equally complex. Jio itself is already involved in the satellite communications business and owns Jio Satellite Communications. The Indian government has issued satellite communication licenses to companies such as Jio. Therefore, after Starlink enters India, it is bound to directly compete with Jio's satellite communication business.
However, there is currently no public evidence that Jio or Airtel were actually involved in blocking Starlink from receiving final approval. Musk himself did not directly name any Indian company. Therefore, it is not accurate to equate his "oligarch" claims directly with making specific accusations against a company.
The Indian government also responded to relevant claims. The government stated that the three companies currently receiving satellite communications licenses are undergoing the same safety review, the regulatory process is consistent for all companies, and there is no discriminatory treatment against Starlink.
This means that the Indian government and Musk currently have significantly different explanations for the reason why Starlink has been unable to launch commercial services. SpaceX believes that it has completed a lot of preparation work, but it is still hindered by forces outside the regulatory process; the Indian government emphasizes that all satellite communications companies must complete unified safety and regulatory procedures.
For India, the value of Starlink is mainly reflected in solving areas that are difficult to cover with traditional communication infrastructure. Although India already has a huge mobile communication and optical fiber network, remote mountainous areas, rural areas and other "last mile" areas still have the problem of high coverage costs.
Starlink provides broadband services through low-Earth orbit satellites and does not require the construction of dense ground base stations and fiber optic lines in each remote area. Therefore, it can theoretically cover areas where traditional network construction costs are higher in a shorter period of time.
Dreyer also emphasized that India has made great progress in digital connectivity in recent years, but the last mile is still the most difficult part. She believes that Starlink can provide Internet connectivity through satellite networks in a shorter time in areas where traditional infrastructure takes years to build.
However, once Starlink actually enters the Indian market, it will face more than just regulatory issues. India's local telecommunications companies already have a huge user base, mature terrestrial networks and highly competitive Internet prices. Starlink needs to prove that satellite broadband can deliver services at an attractive enough price while meeting the needs of Indian consumers in terms of speed, latency and reliability.
Therefore, Starlink faces a rather special situation in India: on the one hand, SpaceX has invested heavily in building local infrastructure and established cooperation with companies such as Airtel; on the other hand, it must face competition from local companies such as Jio, as well as the Indian government's strict supervision on issues such as spectrum, security and data sovereignty.
Musk's public accusation of "oligarchs" for obstructing Starlink has actually pushed the disputes originally related to regulation and industry competition further into the public eye. The Indian government has made it clear that all licensed satellite communications companies are subject to the same regulatory process.
Currently, Starlink has completed most of the technical preparations to launch services in India, but the final commercialization time still depends on when the Indian government completes the remaining safety review and spectrum allocation procedures. As companies such as Starlink, Jio and OneWeb prepare to enter this market, India may also become one of the markets with the most intense competition between the global satellite Internet industry and traditional telecom operators.
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