New Delhi, India – Elon Musk on Sunday renewed his attack on Mukesh Ambani over Starlink’s entry into India, accusing the billionaire’s supporters of indulging in “absurd hypocrisy and hyperbole” in arguing simultaneously that his satellite internet service cannot compete with “amazing low prices offered by Ambani’s de facto monopoly in India,” even as they claimed—in the same breath—that it poses a strong competitive threat.
In a post on X, Musk said competition from Starlink would benefit ordinary Indians by expanding consumer choice, and that while it could lower Ambani’s profits, “he is not going out of business.” Musk also said that if, indeed, Starlink’s services were too expensive in India, consumers would not buy them, forcing the company to make its pricing affordable. The “ridiculous arguments” by Ambani’s internet supporters “make no sense,” he said.
“On the one hand, they say Starlink couldn’t possibly compete with the amazing low prices offered by Mr. Ambani’s de facto monopoly in India and then, in the same breath, they essentially claim that Starlink would be too strong of a competitor! This is absurd hypocrisy and hyperbole,” the U.S. tech trillionaire said. The reality is that competition would greatly benefit the average citizen in India by giving them more choices, as it always does, he argued. “Mr. Ambani’s profits will be lower, but he is not going out of business. And, obviously, if Starlink is too expensive in India, no one will buy it, so SpaceX will need to make pricing affordable,” Musk further said.
Musk this week has repeatedly taken potshots at Ambani, whose company is a major player in India’s telecom market and in the fray for satcom services. On Saturday, he shared screenshots of media reports that alleged a Reliance-funded firm helped boost BJP campaigns on social media and a Reliance-linked company made large political donations to the ruling party. Reliance has not publicly responded to Musk’s allegations, while the government has maintained that the country’s authorisation framework for telecom and satellite services is “fair and non-discriminatory” and that any suggestion that it was being applied selectively was “baseless and misconceived.”
On Friday, Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia asserted that India does not permit monopolies in any sector, and that despite the buzz around one particular company, three players—including Starlink—have received satcom licences and can start operations after individually meeting the security requirements and milestones. Scindia said that three entities—Musk’s Starlink, Reliance Jio’s satellite venture Jio Satcom, and Bharti-backed Eutelsat OneWeb—have already secured licences, while Amazon’s Project Kuiper has expressed interest. TRAI and the telecom department are close to a final decision on the pricing regime for satcom spectrum, Scindia had informed.
