By Anjali Sharma
WASHINGTON – Indian officials on Friday cited that they have had security concerns about Musk’s Starlink ever since December 2024, when apparently security forces seized Starlink communication devices from a militant hideout in East Imphal district.
Elon Musk’s bid to gain a foothold in India’s USD 40.62 Billion telecom market facing delays, media reported
Elon Musk founded Tesla and SpaceX is unhappy with India.
His “beef” with New Delhi centers on his claim that powerful domestic Indian business interests, who he calls “oligarchs”, are blocking the commercial launch of his Starlink satellite communications channel from here to protect their telecom monopolies.
The Indian government said the process of giving any service provider may be time consuming but is fair, non discriminatory and merely awaiting standard security and spectrum clearances.
Insiders in security services said they need several assurances before these clearances can be given, as satellite-based services such as Starlink have the ability to bypass any tapping or oversight by India’s telecom security apparatus.
“Such satellite-based communications can avoid our detection and that has been our problem,” officials admit. Starlink has already set up operations in Bangladesh with earth stations in Chittagong hills.
Dhaka gave Starlink permission to export “unfiltered internet bandwidth” to neighboring countries which would imply India and Myanmar.
Indian officials want assurances given both technically and legally that India can restrict or suspend Starlink services during emergencies or conflict, such as in Manipur or Kashmir as also solemn promises that the network will not follow any conflicting directives given by a foreign government.
Indian licensing norms also require all Indian user traffic are routed through Indian gateways, and data centers and core network elements to be localized here and not abroad.
The seccurity officials want Starlink to demonstrate “working interception/monitoring at each gateway site, the ability to block prohibited content, and the capacity to suspend services for specific users or areas on security agency directions.”
Musk in a post on X, has contended that Starlink is being “blocked by certain oligarchs in order to maintain their monopolistic chokehold on the Indian people,” added cryptically, “You can guess who they are… This is a crime against the people of India!”
His comments revived a long‑running dispute with India’s two largest telecom operators, Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio and Sunil Mittal-run Bharti Airtel, who have argued that satellite spectrum should be auctioned rather than administratively allocated.
A move which would disadvantage start ups using innovative technology such as Starlink.
India’s Ministry of Communications rejected Musk’s discrimination claim have said the regulatory framework for satellite communications is “fair and non discriminatory” and applies equally to all players.
The officials said all three entities, Starlink, One Web and Jio are at “broadly the same regulatory stage,” calling suggestions of unfair treatment “baseless and misconceived.”
Starlink has managed to get a satellite communication licence, was given to the firm last year, though commercial operations require security clearances and spectrum allocation before it can start selling its services, media reported.
