New Delhi, Oct 9 (IANS) SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Friday took another swipe at billionaire Mukesh Ambani over Starlink’s entry into India, calling him “Dear Prime Minister Ambani,” and accusing him of seeking to maintain a monopoly and questioning whether he would allow the satellite internet service to compete in the country.
In a post on X, Musk addressed Ambani as the “real boss of India” and apologised for not recognising his influence.
“Dear Prime Minister Ambani, Please accept my humble apologies for not realizing that you are the real boss of India,” Musk posted.
“Naturally, you would prefer to maintain your monopolistic exploitation of the great people of India, but would you nonetheless consider allowing Starlink to compete?” he added.
He said that “there are many areas of India, as there are in all countries, with no Internet access, which denies children the opportunity for education and for small businesses the opportunity to sell their goods to a global market. Starlink would change their lives for the better.”
Also, “Starlink has proven to be essential for saving lives during natural disasters throughout the world, when all other communications systems have failed, so you would also be helping save men, women and children throughout India,” said Musk.
Musk earlier questioned why Starlink is yet to receive the final approvals to begin commercial operations in India, claiming that the satellite internet company has spent five years complying with the country’s laws and regulations.
Musk first accused unnamed “oligarchs” of blocking Starlink’s entry into India, alleging that powerful business interests were trying to protect their position in the country’s telecom market. He did not name any company or individual.
The government them slammed the US business tycoon over his allegations that Starlink’s satcom services are being blocked, making it clear that demonstrating compliance with security norms is an absolute must for every satcom licensee in the country.
Within hours of the government’s rebuttal, Musk in an X post asked whether “Ambani is the real boss of India”.
The comments came in response to a post arguing that Starlink could help expand internet access in parts of India where traditional telecom infrastructure is difficult or expensive to build.
Starlink has secured a licence to provide satellite communication services in India, but the company still requires security-related clearances and other approvals before it can commercially launch its service.
The government has rejected suggestions that Starlink is facing a discriminatory regulatory regime, describing such claims as “baseless and misconceived”.
—IANS
na/