Elon Musk vs Mukesh Ambani: Starlink CEO praises India's move to skip satellite spectrum auction, says, 'Will do...'

Hours after India announced that satellite spectrum will not be auctioned, Starlink and Tesla CEO Elon Musk appreciated the decision, saying he is looking forward to serving Indians. Musk thanked Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia for not agreeing with Indian businessmen Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani and Bharti Airtel chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal on auctioning spectrum for satellite services. "Much appreciated! We will do our best to serve the people of India with Starlink," he said in a tweet.

Much appreciated! We will do our best to serve the people of India with Starlink.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 15, 2024

The world's richest man, Musk, has taken on two Indian billionaires over the allocation of spectrum used in wireless communication using satellites, calling their demand for the auction of such airwaves "unprecedented". Reliance Jio recently sought a revision of a consultation paper on recommending norms for "terms and conditions for the assignment of spectrum for certain satellite-based commercial Communications services".

"We have received a reference from the Telecom Department and we have initiated a consultation process in response to the reference that has been received from DoT, and it covers issues that have been referred to Trai by the DoT...The consultation process is on, we will consider all inputs and views that are received during the consultation process and we will come out with our considered recommendations," Trai Chairman Anil Kumar Lahoti told reporters on the sidelines of IMC on Tuesday.

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Asked about the demand by Reliance Jio that the Trai consultation paper be revised to ensure a level playing field between terrestrial and satellite players, the Trai chairman said, "Different stakeholders raise different demands on the consultation process, and we consider all these viewpoints and inputs and take a considered view".

While Ambani's Reliance Jio has been vocal about the need to allocate such spectrum through an auction to give a level playing field to legacy operators who buy airwaves and set up infrastructure like telecom towers, Mittal on Tuesday articulated the need for satellite companies harbouring any headwinds urban ambitions to buy spectrum as telecom companies do.

Musk-led Starlink is demanding administrative allotment of licences in line with the global trend as it looks to tap into the world's fastest-growing mobile telephony and internet market. This has found some backing in Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, who said on Tuesday that such airwaves will be given out through administrative allocation and not auctioned.

(With inputs from PTI)