'India's regulatory framework non-discriminatory,' govt responds to Musk

NEW DELHI: India has rejected Elon Musk’s allegation that Starlink is being “being blocked by certain oligarchs in order to maintain their monopolistic chokehold on the Indian people.” Govt said in a statement Thursday that “India's regulatory framework for satellite communication services is fair and non-discriminatory” and that “the suggestion that the framework or its application is unfair or discriminatory is baseless and misconceived.”Sunil Bharti-backed Eutelsat OneWeb, Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio and Starlink are the three entities plan to start satellite communication services in India. “Security assessment as part of this process is currently under way in respect of all the three licensees. As and when this process is completed for a licensed entity, it may proceed to the next step of seeking assignment of spectrum. At present, all the three entities are at broadly the same regulatory stage,” govt statement added.Musk had on Wednesday said on X: “We are being blocked by certain oligarchs in order to maintain their monopolistic chokehold on the Indian people. You can guess who they are… This is a crime against the people of India!”The statement came on a day when Lauren Dreyer, VP of Starlink Business Operations, said at the India Mobile Congress that “We stand ready to serve India, as soon as India is ready.” “For years we have been setting the foundation for the same type of relationship (that Starlink has in countries were it operates) here in India, establishing MoUs with Jio, Airtel and more; working closely with state Govts to listen and learn how Starlink might be able to best serve once it is authorised,” she said at IMC.“Starlink can help reach places where the last mile is still the hardest mile, working alongside India’s operators, govt and industry. As India works through the final approvals, our message is simple: We stand ready to serve India, as soon as India is ready,” Dreyer added.Starlink has tried to allay India’s security fears by claiming that Indian user data will be kept in the country and having security controls as per the country’s requirement.Given strained India-US ties over multiple issues like the stuck trade deal, threat of tariffs over buying Russian oil and most importantly security concerns over Starlink, people in the know say Sunil Bharti-backed Eutelsat OneWeb and Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio are likely to get the nod before Musk, whose wait could be much longer.You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.