Musk Attacks Indian ‘Oligarchs’ for Locking Out Starlink

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 Ltd. and Mittal’s Bharti Airtel Ltd. have spent years building formidable positions in telecom. India’s government rejected Musk’s claims.

“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...”

In a statement Thursday, the Ministry of Communications said its regulatory framework for satellite communications is “fair and non-discriminatory” and that all three companies licensed to provide services are at broadly the same stage of the approval process.

India’s two biggest private telecom operators, Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. 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 Ltd. 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 SES SA. 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.

Bharti Airtel shares fell as much as 1% Thursday, while Reliance Industries was down as much as 1.1%.

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 Starlink business operations, said the company has spent five years working with Indian regulators and had built its network specifically around the country’s security requirements, with “controls at every layer” and Indian user data kept within India.

“We’re standing ready to serve India once India is ready,” she said.

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. Airtel has separately partnered with SpaceX to offer Starlink to its Indian customers, an illustration of the complicated alliances emerging around the market.

Reliance has its own satellite ambitions through Jio Satellite Communications and its joint venture with Luxembourg-based satellite operator SES SA. 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 service.

Jio Platforms, Reliance’s telecom and digital services arm, is preparing for what may be the biggest initial public offering in India’s history later this month.