Elon Musk Supports India's Spectrum Allocation For Satellite Broadband

Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and owner of US Satcom major Starlink, has expressed support for India's decision to allocate spectrum for satellite broadband services.

Musk responded to a post on social messaging platform X by Alex, which said, “NEWS: @Starlink 🇮🇳 India's Minister for Communications Jyotiraditya Scindia said today in an interview with the Press Trust of India that spectrum for satellite broadband will be allocated, not auctioned as sought by telco tycoons Mukesh Ambani and Sunil Mittal.”

Musk reacted with a one-word response, “Promising,” to a post on X (formerly Twitter) discussing the announcement.

However, the introduction of satellite internet services is still on hold while the government finalises price and distribution criteria. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) must first make suggestions.

Currently, only Bharti Group-backed Eutelsat OneWeb and Jio-SES have obtained the necessary clearances to launch Satcom services in India.

In fact, India's telecom titans Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel have expressed concerns about potential interference with terrestrial networks and advocated for similar regulatory standards for satellite internet providers.

Thus, the Indian government has assured stakeholders that it will address these issues and provide a level playing field for all participants.