Elon Musk hails govt’s stand on spectrum allocation

American billionaire Elon Musk on Wednesday hailed the government’s decision to allocate spectrum for satellite broadband administratively rather than through the auction route.

“Much appreciated. We will do our best to serve the people of India with Starlink,” Musk wrote on X, as he scored a win over Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani and Sunil Bharti Mittal who had been batting for the auction of spectrum to ensure a “level-playing field”. Musk was reacting to Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia’s announcement that India would follow the global trend of administrative allocation of spectrum (airwaves) for satellite broadband and side step the auction route.

Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance has said that an auction was required to ensure a level-playing field, especially because there are no provisions in the Indian law on how people can be given satellite broadband services.

Musk has, however, been arguing that the global standard in the spectrum market is against auctioning and in favour of administrative allocation which, he believes, makes it easier for companies to enter India’s home market.

Telecom regulator TRAI’s consultation process has indicated a preference for allocation of home satellite broadband spectrum instead of auction. Mukesh Ambani and Sunil Bharti Mittal, however, have called for auctioning.

Musk’s Starlink has been planning on an India entry. The firm is a satellite Internet service provided by SpaceX. It uses a network of satellites to reach the Internet to users against the traditional method where Internet providers bank on cell towers or underground cables to do the job.