Ambani vs Amazon, Musk, Tata, Mittal: Spectrum war on

New Delhi: Elon Musk wants his Starlink to beam down wireless internet in India from satellites orbiting the earth, but the licensing regime his group favours has put him at odds with Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance.

After meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New York last week, Musk on June 21 said he was keen to launch Starlink in India that “can be incredibly helpful” in bringing the internet to remote villages that lack on-ground infrastructure. But Starlink wants India to just assign a license for the service and not insist on auctioning the signal-carrying spectrum or airwaves.

This stand finds Musk on the side of Tatas, Sunil Bharti Mittal’s firm, and Amazon, who too prefer the same route.

But Ambani’s Reliance says there must be an auction of spectrum for foreign satellite service providers to offer voice and data services to provide a level playing field to traditional telecom players who offer the same services using airwaves bought in government auctions.

“India’s space-based communication services (SS) spectrum decision is key.

Mobile spectrum has been auctioned since 2010 with the government’s cumulative sale of USD 77 billion and several players are keen on SS,” brokerage CLSA said in a note on ‘Satellite Spectrum Battle Ahead’. (PTI)