Elon Musk Posts Twice, Asks Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani if He Still Wants Starlink to Compete
On October 9, Elon Musk posted twice, referring to Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani as Prime Minister Ambani, and apologized for not realizing that Ambani is the true boss of India. He asked if Ambani still wanted Starlink to compete, despite the latter likely wanting to maintain a monopolistic exploitation of Indians.
The reason mentioned in the posts was the lack of internet in certain areas. He stated that like all countries, India has many places without internet, causing children to lose educational opportunities and small businesses to be unable to sell to global markets, and that Starlink could improve their lives. The second post added that during disasters, when other communication systems fail, Starlink has proven to be crucial for saving lives in many parts of the world, and its operation would help save Indian men, women, and children.
This was a follow-up to a post made on Thursday, where Musk wrote that Starlink has been licensed in over 165 countries and has spent five years complying with every law and requirement of the Indian government, questioning why it still lacks a license, and whether Ambani is the true boss of India. He named an unnamed oligarch as blocking satellite internet to maintain monopolistic control but provided no evidence. Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi picked up on the question of whether Ambani is the real boss.
Indian Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia responded on Friday, stating that India does not allow monopolies in any industry. He pointed out that three companies hold satellite communication licenses: Starlink, Reliance Jio's satellite division, and Bharti-backed Eutelsat OneWeb. None of the three have yet obtained security clearance. The government will allocate spectrum after determining spectrum fees based on revenue, and each company must meet security conditions before commencing operations. The government stated that satellite communication regulation is fair and non-discriminatory, and licensees must prove compliance with security conditions, with security assessments ongoing, without mentioning Musk by name. Reliance Jio did not respond to requests for comment.
Reuters reported that Starlink has obtained permission to operate in India, but commercial launch is still pending security compliance and spectrum allocation. The wait has been noted as four years. The market has over a billion internet users, currently dominated by Ambani's Jio and Sunil Mittal's Bharti Airtel mobile networks.
This is a competition for access under the licensing narrative, not a new spectrum auction. The seller is SpaceX, which has framed the lack of internet, education, and disaster response as reasons for operation; the buyer is the Indian telecom department, which requires completion of security assessments and revenue-sharing fees first. Beneficiaries are the satellite license holders who can enter if all three pass, while the pressure is on the ground mobile networks identified as monopolistic, particularly Jio. Musk attributes the delays to Ambani personally, while the minister attributes the progress to the security conditions that all three have yet to pass.
Source: Public Information
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Reliance has turned Indian telecommunications into a prepaid data business on a large scale. Jio, in 2016, used free data to drive down the price per user, forcing Airtel and Vodafone Idea to follow suit, resulting in over 400 million users. Satellite communication is the next card: Jio's satellite division and Bharti's OneWeb have both obtained the same type of license as Starlink. Musk wants to charge end-users directly for low-orbit constellations, while Ambani already has ground stations along with his satellite license.
Starlink's capital path is to launch satellites first, then obtain landing rights. The licenses in over 165 countries serve as its sales pitch, while India is stuck on security assessments and how spectrum is priced based on revenue. Five years of compliance have not translated into commercial launch. The posts combine children's education, small business exports, and disaster communication into a single open letter, reframing the license delays as a blockade against people. Scindia's counter is that all three have not passed security checks, not just one.
Comparatively, South Africa has not opened Starlink operations according to Musk's timeline, and Brazil's Supreme Court is in a dispute over the removal of X. The difference is that India's thresholds are written in terms of spectrum and security conditions, and competitors hold similar licenses. The industry is in a control phase: licenses have been issued, but the right to operate is still tied to fee formulas and security checklists.
Essentially, it is a transfer of pricing power. The pricing power for mobile data lies with Jio and Airtel's ground networks, while satellites are competing for access rights in areas without base stations. The mechanism is that all three licenses exist simultaneously, and whoever meets security conditions first can sell terminals. Referring to Ambani as Prime Minister frames regulatory queuing as private monopoly; the minister frames the same queuing as still pending revenue-sharing agreements.
ABAB News · Cognitive Laws
Licenses issued do not equal operational readiness.
All three are waiting; blame will only point to one.
Lack of internet areas is the reason; spectrum is the gate.