Starlink not being blocked in India, all licensees at same regulatory stage: Centre rejects Musk’s claim

The Centre has dismissed Elon Musk’s claim that Starlink is being unfairly blocked in India, stating that the satellite communication licensing framework is fair, non-discriminatory, and that all three licensees are currently at a similar regulatory stage undergoing security assessments.

New Delhi: The government on Thursday refuted a social media post by billionaire Elon Musk, which claimed that India’s regulatory framework for satellite communication services is being applied in a “discriminatory manner’.

The Centre described as “baseless and misconceived” the remarks by SpaceX Founder and CEO Elon Musk on the social media platform X that Starlink was being “blocked by certain oligarchs” in the country.

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Dismissing the social media post, the Ministry of Communications said that the government has put in place a fair and non-discriminatory authorisation framework for all telecommunication services, including satellite communication services.

“Under this, telecom licences have been granted to three Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite services based on non-geosynchronous satellite orbit-based satellite communications, as part of its commitment to enable provision of satellite communication services in India,” the official statement said.

Moreover, under the terms and conditions of licences, every such licensee is required to demonstrate compliance with security conditions, the government said.

“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 the three licensees,” the statement further clarified.

As and when this process is completed for a licensed entity, it may proceed to the next step of seeking the assignment of spectrum.

“At present, all the 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,” said the ministry.

The development came a day after Musk alleged that Starlink was being “blocked by certain oligarchs” in India to protect their “monopolistic chokehold” over the country. He made the remarks as the satellite internet company continued to wait for final clearances to begin commercial services in the country.