Elon Musk has been trying for a while now to enter India’s satellite broadband market with Starlink. Things have been going back and forth for a while now and they do look positive for Starlink. And India’s own telecom giants such as Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel are not really happy with it. Recently, India’s telecom minister, Jyotiraditya Scindia, confirmed that satellite spectrum will be allocated administratively, aligning with global trends, rather than through auctions. However, Mukesh Ambani and Sunil Mittal, who heads Jio and Airtel respectively, wanted auctions.
This decision of the government works more in favour of Musk’s Starlink. However, at the same time, the government has also made it clear that the spectrum won’t be given for free and the pricing will be determined by the local telecom regulator.
Previously, Jio and Airtel had to acquire their spectrum through competitive auctions, and they argue that allowing satellite companies to bypass this process creates an uneven playing field. Hence, as I mentioned earlier, Jio and Airtel see this as a potential threat. Once Starlink enters the Indian market, it can attract its customers by offering services at lower costs. Therefore both Ambani and Mittal want the satellite spectrum to be sold via auction.
Mukesh Ambani even sent a letter to India’s telecom ministry demanding a “fair and transparent auction system” for satellite services to maintain a level playing field. The letter said that satellite broadband companies should follow the same rules as terrestrial mobile providers. Even Mittal insisted that satellite companies must buy spectrum and telecom licenses just like other players in the market. If this doesn’t fall through, Jio is also preparing for a legal battle.
With all this going on, Starlink is awaiting final approval from the Indian government to begin its operations in the country.
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