New Delhi:
Reacting to the Centre’s rebuttal that India’s framework for satellite services is non-discriminatory and that companies must demonstrate compliance, trillionaire Elon Musk has claimed Starlink has spent five years complying with every Indian law and asked why it has still not got a licence.
The controversy began on Wednesday, when Musk, responding to a user on X, said Starlink, which is a satellite internet service, was being blocked in India by some “oligarchs”.
“Unfortunately, we are being blocked by certain oligarchs in order to maintain their monopolistic chokehold on the Indian people. You can guess who they are… This is a crime against the people of India!” the Tesla and SpaceX CEO wrote.
READ | “It’s Crime”: Elon Musk Claims ‘Oligarchs’ Stalling Starlink’s Entry In India
In a statement issued on Thursday morning, the Ministry of Communications said the claim was baseless.
“A post is being circulated on social media regarding the fairness of India’s regulatory framework for satellite communication services and suggesting that it is being applied in a discriminatory manner. The Government has put in place a fair and non-discriminatory authorisation framework for all telecommunication services, including satellite communication services,” it said.
The ministry pointed out that telecom licences have been granted to three Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite services – Starlink, Bharti-backed Eutelsat OneWeb and Jio Satellite Communications Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Jio Platforms.
READ | “Fair Policy”: India Rejects Elon Musk’s “Starlink Stalled” Claim
“Under the terms and conditions of the licence, every such licensee is required to demonstrate compliance with security conditions. This is aimed at ensuring that services provided meet various security requirements to ensure the safety of all users and their data. Security assessment as part of this process is currently underway in respect of all three licensees,” it said.
The ministry said that once this is done, the companies can ask for spectrum to be assigned.
“At present, all three entities are at broadly the same regulatory stage. As such, the suggestion that the framework or its application is unfair or discriminatory is baseless and misconceived,” it asserted.
Musk took to X again on Thursday and asked why Starlink has not received the licence, claiming that it had complied with “every single law and requirement” of the government of India.
The same claim was made by Lauren Dreyer, SpaceX’s vice president for Starlink business operations, who said that the company had invested in infrastructure specifically designed to meet Indian regulatory and security requirements, including keeping user data within the country.
