Shares in India’s two largest private telecom groups slipped on Thursday, October 8, after SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk accused unnamed “oligarchs” of keeping his Starlink satellite internet service out of India. Bharti Airtel fell as much as 1% and Reliance Industries as much as 1.1%, Quartz India reported, citing Bloomberg. India’s Ministry of Communications rejected the claim the same day.
Key facts
- India has licensed three non-geosynchronous satellite communications providers under its GMPCS (Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite) rules: Starlink, Jio and Eutelsat OneWeb, per the ministry statement quoted by Yahoo News Canada.
- Neither Jio nor Eutelsat OneWeb has fully launched commercial service, Quartz India reported. Eutelsat OneWeb’s parent, the European satellite operator Eutelsat, counts Bharti among its largest shareholders.
- Starlink has more than 20 ground stations in place across India, each equipped with hundreds of antennas, and data generated by Indian users remains stored in-country, SpaceX’s Lauren Dreyer said.
- A June Bloomberg report, cited by Quartz India, said India had put final approvals for Starlink’s commercial launch on ice over security concerns, with clearances withheld by security agencies under the Home Ministry.
Why it matters
Starlink holds an Indian satellite communications licence but is still waiting on security clearances and a spectrum allocation before it can sell service, according to Quartz India. That leaves India as one of the few major markets where Starlink has yet to launch, the outlet said — and the dispute is now public, with a sitting chief executive accusing incumbent operators of obstruction and the government denying it.
The stakes are commercial as well as political. Quartz India reported that Starlink has crossed nine million customers globally and is SpaceX’s largest revenue driver, with operating income doubling last year to $4.42 billion.
Neither report publishes a consumer price for Starlink in India, which leaves the affordability claim at the centre of the case untested. Yahoo News Canada’s UPI report said Starlink has vowed to bring high-speed internet connectivity to Indians “who cannot afford current prices,” and that Musk accused the unnamed moguls of working to deny consumers more affordable options to protect their market share. The one hard cost figure settled so far is regulatory: India’s regulator has cleared a 5% spectrum charge for Starlink, OneWeb and Jio.
What Musk said
Musk posted the accusation on his social media platform X on Wednesday. “Unfortunately, we are being blocked by certain oligarchs in order to maintain their monopolistic chokehold on the Indian people,” he wrote, per Quartz India, adding that readers could guess who they were and calling it a crime against the people of India. He did not name any company or individual.
An about-face on the 2025 distribution deals
Quartz India described the attack as a striking reversal: only a year earlier, SpaceX had forged distribution agreements with both Bharti Airtel and Reliance’s Jio Platforms aimed at bringing Starlink to Indian customers. The UPI report said those agreements remain in place alongside the installed ground infrastructure, which it described as ready to go live.
What the government says
The Communications Ministry said the approval process for Starlink was identical to that of the two other licensed providers, with all three at “broadly the same stage,” according to Yahoo News Canada. The ministry described its authorisation framework for telecommunication services, including satellite services, as fair and non-discriminatory, and said the three GMPCS licences were granted as part of its commitment to enabling satellite communications in India. Quartz India reported the same denial and the same point about the three providers’ progress.
Where the two accounts differ
On the timeline
Quartz India reported that Dreyer told the India Mobile Congress the company had devoted five years to navigating India’s regulatory process. UPI said Starlink received its satellite communications licence in 2025, four years after first approaching Indian authorities.
On market size
Quartz India cited government data putting Jio and Airtel’s combined base at about 910 million broadband subscribers, more than 80% of the total. UPI described the Indian market as one said to be more than 1 billion subscribers, 80% controlled by the two home-grown giants.
Editor’s note: the 910 million figure reads high against commonly reported Indian broadband counts, and we have not been able to confirm it against a second source. It is reproduced here as Quartz India reported it, attributed to the latest government data, and should be treated as the two operators’ combined subscriber base pending confirmation.
What is still outstanding
Neither report says when the security clearances or the spectrum allocation might be issued. Dreyer’s position, as quoted by Quartz India, was that the network had been designed to meet India’s security requirements. India is not the only large market where the paperwork is the obstacle: Starlink remains unlicensed in South Africa even as use there keeps growing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who were the “oligarchs” Musk was referring to?
Musk named no one. Quartz India, citing Bloomberg, described the post as an apparent reference to telecom billionaires Mukesh Ambani of Reliance Industries and Sunil Bharti Mittal of Bharti Airtel.
Did Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio reply to the accusation?
No. According to Quartz India, which cited Bloomberg, Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel did not respond to requests for comment.
What did Lauren Dreyer pledge at the India Mobile Congress?
Speaking in New Delhi on Wednesday, Starlink’s vice president of business operations said the company stood “ready to serve India” and was committed to helping deliver Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s aim of connecting every Indian, according to Yahoo News Canada’s UPI report.
In how many countries does Starlink operate?
More than 155 countries and territories, Quartz India reported.
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