Elon Musk has blamed India's dominant telecom operators for stalling Starlink's launch in the country, according to CNBC. He singled out Mukesh Ambani's Jio and Sunil Mittal's Airtel, which together control more than 80% of the Indian telecom and internet services market.
Musk argued that Starlink would bring high-speed, affordable internet connectivity to Indians "who cannot afford current prices," implying that the incumbents have little interest in seeing a low-cost competitor enter. The Indian government, however, rejected the criticism, calling suggestions that its regulatory framework is unfair or discriminatory "baseless and misconceived."
The standoff leaves Starlink's entry into one of the world's largest internet markets unresolved, with regulators and entrenched players on one side and SpaceX's global expansion plans on the other.