‘Competition Would Benefit Indians’: Musk Escalates Starlink Row

Elon Musk has intensified his push for Starlink’s commercial launch in India, arguing that greater competition would benefit consumers and attacking what he called Mukesh Ambani’s “army of Internet shills”.

In a post on X on Saturday, the SpaceX CEO accused Starlink’s critics of making contradictory arguments: that the satellite internet service could not compete with India’s low prices, yet would pose an excessive competitive threat.

“This is absurd hypocrisy and hyperbole,” Musk wrote.

His remarks follow the Indian government’s rejection of his earlier allegation that powerful business interests were blocking Starlink’s entry. The Ministry of Communications has said all three licensed satellite operators are at broadly the same regulatory stage and must complete security assessments.

‘SPACEX WILL NEED TO MAKE PRICING AFFORDABLE’

Musk argued that additional competition would expand consumer choice, even if it reduced existing operators’ profits.

“The reality is that competition would greatly benefit the average citizen in India by giving them more choices, as it always does. Ambani’s profits will be lower, but he is not going out of business,” he wrote.

He also acknowledged that Starlink would have to price its services competitively.

“Obviously, if Starlink is too expensive in India, no one will buy it, so SpaceX will need to make pricing affordable,” Musk added.

In the same post, he described Ambani’s business as a “de facto monopoly”, a characterisation the government has disputed in its response to the wider controversy.

THE DEBATE OVER MOBILE AND HOME INTERNET

Musk was responding to Aaron Burnett, CEO of Mach33 Financial Group, who questioned whether descriptions of India’s internet as inexpensive and widely accessible adequately reflected the home broadband market.

Burnett argued that India’s low-cost internet reputation rests largely on mobile usage. He cited a substantial gap between monthly mobile data consumption and usage on home fibre connections, suggesting that an affordable alternative could expand fixed broadband adoption.

His projections of a larger customer base were an argument for Starlink’s market potential, rather than an announced subscriber or pricing target from the company.

SCINDIA SAYS 3 OPERATORS MUST COMPLETE THE PROCESS

Union Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said on Friday that India would not permit a monopoly in satellite communications and that Reliance Jio, OneWeb and Starlink had received licences.

Amazon, he added, was also interested and would have to follow the licensing process.

“There are three parties that have got licenses. There is Reliance Jio, there is OneWeb, and there is Starlink,” Scindia said.

The minister said the government was close to a final decision on the satellite spectrum pricing framework following discussions between the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India and the Department of Telecommunications.

Commercial operations would also depend on each operator independently meeting security requirements.

Scindia identified spectrum assignment, the applicable pricing regime and security compliance as the key elements of the process. Completing those requirements would allow the operators to begin services, he said.

EARLIER ATTACK DREW GOVERNMENT REBUTTAL

Musk had previously addressed Ambani sarcastically as “Prime Minister Ambani”, accusing him of seeking to prevent competition and alleging that Starlink had spent five years complying with Indian requirements.

He argued that satellite connectivity could help children and small businesses in areas without internet access, while supporting emergency communications during natural disasters.

The Ministry of Communications rejected the allegation that Starlink was being singled out. It said security assessments were under way for all three licensed operators and that each could seek spectrum assignment after completing the required process.

With inputs from ANI.