India has granted a licence to Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet service, marking what the country’s communications minister called the “next frontier of connectivity.”
Starlink, which delivers high-speed internet to remote areas via low Earth orbit satellites, has stirred considerable debate in India, touching on concerns such as aggressive pricing strategies and spectrum allocation.
Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said he had a “productive meeting” with Gwynne Shotwell, president and chief operating officer of SpaceX, the company behind Starlink.
Shotwell “expressed appreciation for the licence granted to Starlink, describing it as a great start to the journey,” Scindia shared on Musk-owned social media platform X on Tuesday evening.
This development comes after two of India’s largest telecom operators, Jio Platforms and its competitor Bharti Airtel, announced agreements in March with SpaceX to offer Starlink internet services to their customers.
Elon Musk has had some disagreements with Asia’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani, owner of Jio Platforms, particularly regarding how satellite spectrum rights should be allocated.
While Musk’s presence in India is currently limited to his social media company X, his electric vehicle firm Tesla is also preparing to enter the Indian market.
