Elon Musk Promises Starlink Will Serve India Amid Competition with Top Telcos.

Elon Musk has announced that Starlink, his global satellite internet service, will “do its best to serve the people of India.” This sets the stage for competition with major Indian telecom companies, Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel, in the country’s vast telecom market.

Musk’s statement on X (formerly Twitter) came after a close associate, DogeDesigner, shared good news for Starlink. The Indian government plans to allocate spectrum for satellite broadband services administratively, rather than through auctions, which Musk previously criticized.

India’s communications minister, Jyotiraditya Scindia, mentioned that while the spectrum will be allocated without auctions, the cost will be determined by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai).

On the same day, Bharti Airtel chairman Sunil Mittal supported Reliance’s Mukesh Ambani in advocating for spectrum auctions for satellite communication. He argued that satellite services could eventually provide similar offerings as traditional telecom services, so both sectors should have the same access methods to airwaves.