Musk Presses India to Open the Door for Starlink Competition

HAWTHORNE, Calif. — Elon Musk is making a very public case for letting Starlink compete on a level playing field in India, arguing that the world's most populous nation stands to gain the most from fast, affordable satellite internet reaching its remotest corners.

A Call for Open Competition

Over several days this week, Musk pushed back on what he described as efforts to keep Starlink out of the Indian market, saying the service has complied with "every single law and requirement." He framed the stakes in terms of access, noting that Starlink has repeatedly proven its value during natural disasters and could connect parts of India that still have no reliable internet at all.

Jio and Airtel together control more than 80% of India's telecom market, and Musk's comments have reignited a long-running debate over how quickly new satellite players should be allowed in.

The push comes as SpaceX accelerates its direct-to-device ambitions, having recently secured 800 MHz of spectrum to turn Starlink into a full-fledged mobile carrier.

Where the Approvals Stand

India's Ministry of Communications has defended its framework as fair, and Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia noted that three companies now hold satellite-communications licenses: Starlink, Jio Satellite Communications, and Bharti-backed Eutelsat OneWeb. One final piece remains — satellite spectrum pricing — which officials say is close to being settled, after which security clearances will follow.

Starlink earned its operator license in 2025 following a three-year wait, and industry executives say a key remaining approval was granted by India's IN-SPACe regulator in July 2026. The momentum mirrors Starlink's broader expansion worldwide, from disaster response to programs like Starlink for Communities that widen access through shared connections.

A Market Worth the Fight

The opportunity is enormous. Hundreds of millions of Indians live beyond the reach of dependable broadband, and satellite service could leapfrog the costly work of laying fiber across difficult terrain. Even some domestic players see the writing on the wall: Reliance's Jio is reportedly weighing its own constellation of roughly 1,600 satellites, and Akash Ambani has told shareholders the company plans to lease capacity from global providers to move quickly — an implicit acknowledgment that the satellite era has arrived.

As Teslarati reported, Musk has kept up the pressure publicly, pressing officials to finalize pricing and let competition decide who serves India's unconnected millions.

For SpaceX, the prize is a foothold in one of the largest untapped connectivity markets on Earth — and Musk is betting that an open contest is one Starlink can win.