On Thursday, Musk had asked whether Ambani was the “real boss” of India.
New Delhi:
Upping the ante in the war over providing satellite internet connectivity in India, tech trillionaire Elon Musk has once again taken to his own social media platform, X, and fired a volley.
“Dear Prime Minister Ambani, please accept my humble apologies for not realising that you are the real boss of India,” the Tesla and SpaceX CEO wrote.
“Naturally, you would prefer to maintain your monopolistic exploitation of the great people of India, but would you nonetheless consider allowing Starlink to compete?” he asked, adding, “There are many areas of India, as there are in all countries, with no Internet access, which denies children the opportunity for education and for small businesses the opportunity to sell their goods to a global market. Starlink would change their lives for the better.”
Starlink, which is owned by SpaceX, is one of three Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite services – the others are Bharti-backed Eutelsat OneWeb and Jio Satellite Communications Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Jio Platforms – which have been granted telecom licences by the Centre.
For spectrum to be assigned and services to begin, however, the companies have to demonstrate compliance with security conditions. The Centre has said security assessment, which is part of this process, is underway.
The controversy began on Wednesday, when Musk, responding to a user on X, said Starlink, was being blocked in India by some “oligarchs”.
“Unfortunately, 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 tech mogul wrote.
In a statement issued on Thursday morning, the Ministry of Communications said the claim was baseless.
“A post is being circulated on social media regarding the fairness of India’s regulatory framework for satellite communication services and suggesting that it is being applied in a discriminatory manner. The Government has put in place a fair and non-discriminatory authorisation framework for all telecommunication services, including satellite communication services,” it said.
Musk took to X again on Thursday and asked why Starlink has not received the licence, claiming that it had complied with “every single law” of the government of India.
“Starlink is licensed in over 165 countries and has spent five years complying with every single law and requirement of the government of India, so why still no license? Is Ambani the real boss of India?” he wrote.
In Friday’s post, the trillionaire also claimed Starlink has proven to be essential for saving lives during natural disasters, when other communications systems failed. Allowing the firm to operate in India, he aregued, would also help save men, women and children throughout the country.
