New Delhi, October 9 (IANS). SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Friday once again took a dig at billionaire Mukesh Ambani over Starlink's entry into India. He called him 'Dear Prime Minister Ambani' and accused him of trying to maintain a monopoly and questioned whether he would allow satellite internet services to compete in the country.
In a post on social media platform X, Musk described Ambani as the 'real boss' of India and apologized for not recognizing his influence. “Dear Prime Minister Ambani, please accept my humble apologies for not understanding that you are the real boss of India,” Musk posted.
He further wrote, “Naturally, you would like to maintain monopolistic exploitation of the great people of India, but would you still consider allowing Starlink to compete?”
He said, “There are many areas in India, like all countries, where there is no internet access, depriving children of the opportunity to get an education and small businesses the opportunity to sell their goods in the global market. Starlink will improve their lives.”
“Starlink has proven essential in saving lives during natural disasters around the world when all other communications systems have failed, so you will also help save the lives of men, women and children across India,” Musk said.
Elon Musk had earlier raised questions as to why Starlink has not yet received the final approval to start commercial operations in India and claimed that the satellite internet company has spent five years complying with the country's laws and regulations.
Musk had earlier, without naming names, accused some 'billionaires' of blocking Starlink's entry into India, and said powerful business interests were trying to protect their position in the country's telecom market. Although he did not take the name of any company or person.
The government then reprimanded the American industrialist over his allegations of blocking satcom services and clarified that it is mandatory for every satcom licensee in the country to prove compliance with security norms.
Within hours of the government's response, Musk asked in a post on X if Ambani is the real boss of India?
The comment came in response to a post that argued Starlink could help expand internet access in parts of India where building traditional telecom infrastructure is difficult or expensive.
Starlink has acquired the license to provide satellite communications services in India, but the company still needs security clearance and other approvals before launching its service commercially.
The government has rejected suggestions that Starlink faces a discriminatory regulatory regime, calling such claims baseless and misleading.
–IANS
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