Elon Musk, CEO of Starlink, responded on Wednesday to Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya Skindia's announcement to forgo spectrum auction, calling the move 'much valued. Scindia announced that India will allocate spectrum administratively in accordance with global norms.
Musk responded to this news on X (formerly Twitter), writing, "Thank you so much! Starlink will strive to serve India's people to the best of our ability."
Musk has previously voiced his opposition to auctioning satellite spectrum, in contrast with Indian telecom giants such as Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio and Sunil Bharti Mittal's Bharti Airtel.
India Adopts Globalised Practices
Scindia, India's Telecom Minister, noted during his announcement that India's decisions conform with international standards.
Scindia explained that satellite frequencies are allocated globally administratively and that India stands in line with all the rest of the world in this respect.
Elon Musk and Starlink as well as other satellite players such as Amazon's Project Kuiper have publicly voiced support for administrative allocation as a strategy to protect satellite frequency sharing; according to Musk, ITU (International Telecommunication Union), an intergovernmental agency, classifies this frequency as shared and should therefore not be sold; India being part of ITU only strengthens their argument in favor of administrative allocation.
Mukesh Ambani, CEO of Reliance Jio, has advocated for a spectrum sale. This has reignited debate about this idea; Tesla CEO Elon Musk publicly expressed his opposition and called this auction "unprecedented." According to Musk, this would mark a change from global satellite communication services and could impede expansion efforts such as Starlink in India.
Musk replied just a day ahead of the government announcement by questioning Reliance Jio's position and its approach to auctioning satellite spectrum. Musk expressed concerns that such auctioning might create unnecessary barriers for Starlink, an initiative intended to provide affordable satellite internet access in rural and remote parts of India.
Elon Musk, founder of Starlink satellite internet service, has long had India in his sights. Starlink aims to provide high-speed internet access in remote regions that lack traditional telecom infrastructure by using an extensive constellation of satellites orbiting low earth orbit (LEO). Elon believes this administrative allocation will speed Starlink's entry into India while improving internet accessibility in regions without traditional telecom infrastructure.
Administrative allocation, widely utilized in countries across the globe, enables companies like Starlink to operate without incurring auction costs that would otherwise prohibit expansion of satellite-based service for areas with limited access to traditional networks. This approach has proven itself more favourable.
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