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Elon Musk's Starlink has been eyeing the satellite broadband space in India for long.
In a victory for Elon Musk, whose SpaceX arm Starlink has been eyeing the satellite broadband space in India, the Central government on Tuesday said it would now allocate spectrum for satellite broadband administratively, and not via auction.
The announcement came hours after Elon Musk criticised the auction route being sought by rival billionaire Mukesh Ambani as "unprecedented".
In what is seen as a battle between the two billionaires, the methodology of awarding spectrum for satellite services in India has been a contentious issue since last year.
Mr Musk's Starlink argues administrative allotment of licences is in line with a global trend, while India's Reliance says an auction is needed to ensure a level-playing field and as there are no provisions in Indian law on how individuals can be provided satellite broadband services. Reuters reported that Mr Musk had strongly opposed Mr Ambani's push for a spectrum auction.
Spectrum pricing
Speaking at an event in New Delhi, Union Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said the spectrum “will be allocated administratively in line with Indian laws”, he added that pricing would be worked out by the telecom watchdog.
“If you do decide to auction it, then you will be doing something different from the rest of the world,” M Scindia added.
Mr Musk expressed his appreciation of social media platform X, which he owns, stating: “We will do our best to serve the people of India with Starlink.”
The Indian satellite services market is expected to grow by 36 percent annually to reach $1.9 billion by 2030. And as such, the spectrum awarding method has come under increased focus since last year.
Mr Musk's Stralink has backed the government-issued license system as is followed globally, while Mr Ambani's Reliance had backed the auction route. India at present does not have any laws regarding the provision of satellite broadband services to individuals.
Reliance had challenged the Indian telecom regulator's consultation process that signals home satellite broadband spectrum should be allocated, not auctioned, calling for it to start again.
A shot in the arm for Musk
The minister's comment will come as a shot in the arm for Mr Musk. "This spectrum was long designated by the ITU (International Telecommunication Union, a U.N. agency for digital technology) .as shared spectrum for satellites," Musk said, referring to the International Telecommunication Union, a U.N. agency for digital technology.
India is a member of the ITU and signatory to its treaty that regulates satellite spectrum and advocates that allocation must be done "rationally, efficiently and economically" as it is a "limited natural resource".
Mittal is for auction
Sunil Mittal, co-chair of global satellite group Eutelsat, which has partnered with India's telecom operator Bharti Airtel, voiced support for the auction route on Tuesday.
"Satellite companies who have ambitions to come into urban areas, serving elite retail customers, just need to take the telecom licenses like everybody else... they need to buy the spectrum as telecom companies buy," Mr Mittal, who is also the chair of Airtel, said at an event in New Delhi.
Earlier in 2023, both Eutelsat unit OneWeb and Airtel had voiced concerns about auctioning the spectrum in their submissions to the Indian government.
Mr Musk's Starlink and some global peers like Amazon's Project Kuiper back an administrative allocation, saying spectrum is a natural resource that should be shared by companies.
(By arrangement with livemint.com)
