Elon Musk: Starlink Blocked in India by 'Certain Oligarchs' to Maintain Their Monopoly Over Indians
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk stated that Starlink is being blocked in India by "certain oligarchs" to maintain their monopolistic control over the Indian people. He did not name anyone specifically, only writing "you can guess who it is," and referred to this blockage as a crime against the Indian people, while claiming that Starlink could provide affordable high-speed access to those without internet.
Hours later, the Indian Ministry of Communications responded, stating that the satellite communication licensing framework is fair and non-discriminatory, and that the alleged unfairness or discrimination is "baseless and a misunderstanding." The ministry noted that three non-geostationary global mobile satellite communication licensees are at roughly the same regulatory stage, with safety assessments ongoing; spectrum applications can only be made after assessments are completed. The three are Starlink, Jio Satellite under Reliance, and Bharti's Eutelsat OneWeb. Jio and Airtel did not immediately comment.
The concentration in the ground market has public figures. Reliance Jio is controlled by Mukesh Ambani, while Bharti Airtel is controlled by Sunil Mittal, with a combined broadband user base of about 910 million, exceeding 80% of the national market. The direct competitors on the satellite side are Jio's satellite company and OneWeb, in which Mittal is involved. Deloitte estimates the Indian satellite broadband market to reach $1.9 billion by 2030. India has over 1 billion internet users, and Starlink's commercial service has yet to begin.
Progress is stalled after licensing. Starlink obtained global mobile satellite personal communication permission in June 2025, received IN-SPACe authorization in July, and signed terminal distribution agreements with Jio and Airtel in 2025. Previously, Musk was at odds with the two over whether spectrum should be auctioned or allocated administratively, but set aside differences in 2025. After safety terms were revised last May, it was required to shut down Starlink receivers purchased abroad and that terminals sold in India must be disabled abroad, along with industry-standard monitoring requirements.
Lauren Dreyer, SpaceX's Vice President of Business Operations, stated at the India Mobile Communications Conference that 20 gateway stations and hundreds of antennas have been built in India, and services will comply with Indian data security laws, with hopes to launch before 2027. Her exact words were that they are ready to serve India, waiting for India to be ready. Musk's post did not attach regulatory documents or specify which approval was rewritten by a company.
This is an event-driven access dispute, not user migration. Buyers are Indian users waiting for low-orbit broadband and the Jio and Airtel channels that have signed distribution agreements, while sellers are the three licensees that have not completed safety assessments and thus cannot obtain spectrum. The narrative benefiting Starlink is breaking the ground duopoly, while the ministry's side is that the three are at the same stage with no bias in rules. The pressure is on the timeline that cannot commercialize without completing safety assessments, and the implied but unnamed ground oligarchs. Money is still tied up in equipment agreements and ground stations, not yet entering satellite monthly fees.
Source: Public Information
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Musk has changed his stance on spectrum in India once. Early on, he publicly opposed auctioning satellite spectrum, believing that administrative allocation was more suitable for shared orbits; on the Ambani side, there was a push for auctions to prevent low-orbit broadband from impacting ground network investments with low-priced spectrum. In 2025, Starlink first obtained GMPCS and IN-SPACe, then signed terminal distribution agreements with Jio and Airtel, effectively harvesting channels from competitors. This time, the rhetoric of oligarchs and monopolies comes after distribution agreements have been signed and commercial use has not yet been approved.
Capital is stuck on safety assessments and spectrum, not on rockets. Dreyer provided details on the deployed assets: 20 gateways, hundreds of antennas, and a local team compliant with Indian laws on data. Former Payoneer executive Prabhakar Jayakumar was appointed to lead operations in India in December 2025. Terminal distribution gives the first hardware revenue to Jio and Airtel's stores, while monthly fees will wait for spectrum. The two ground companies have a combined broadband user base of about 910 million, and if the satellite service launches, it will first target villages where these two companies have thin coverage, not their urban contracts.
A comparison can be made to 2016 when Reliance Jio used free data to disrupt mobile pricing in India, while incumbents also delayed using regulatory and connectivity disputes. This satellite situation is closer to the UK and France's licensing of OneWeb and Starlink's ground stations: licenses can be issued first, while frequency and safety are the commercial switches. The industry position is one of control periods. All three have been licensed, and competition is not about obtaining access qualifications, but about who completes the same safety assessment first.
Structurally, this is a transfer of pricing power. The pricing power of the ground duopoly comes from spectrum auctions and 910 million users; if low-orbit broadband receives spectrum through administrative allocation, pricing power will shift from auction premiums to satellite capacity and terminal subsidies. By placing the three companies at the same stage, the ministry is reclaiming the definition of "who is targeted." The mechanism is safety terms: disabling foreign terminals, requiring domestic terminals to be disabled abroad, and monitoring requirements, leaving commercial rights to be granted only after assessments are completed. The absence of naming means that the suppression remains an accusation, not a confirmed approval record.
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Licenses have been issued, but the switch is still on safety assessments.
Channels can be signed first, but monthly fees will wait for spectrum.
Unnamed monopoly accusations cannot determine approvals.