Telecom Giants Seek Fair Competition Ahead of Starlink's India Launch

Indian telecom operators seek equivalent price rates for satellite frequencies before Starlink launches its Indian service. Elon Musk supports fair competition.

Elon Musk recently posted his support for fair competition in satellite telecommunications on X during the time Reliance Jio and other operators petitioned the Indian government. Major Indian telecom companies are pushing the government for fair spectrum prices between satellite and terrestrial network systems to meet expected equality when Starlink launches its market operations.

The petition submitted by the companies argued that Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had not properly solved the issue of unbalanced spectrum distribution. The industry leaders asked the government to establish standard pricing mechanisms and regulatory costs for Starlink and other satellite providers operating in urban, semi-urban and rural regions. The companies explained that broadband capacity along with speeds from low-earth orbit satellite networks known as Starlink matches what terrestrial networks offer.

The companies explained that the incoming satellite operators would cause spectrum oversupply problems that could break the competitive balance in India's telecom industry regarding retail and enterprise customer regions. The companies advocated for satellite spectrum pricing restrictions until it is exclusively used to support non-competitive government functions combined with disaster recovery systems instead of commercial satellite operations.

The telecom sector remains attentive to receive additional information regarding future licensing and spectrum allocation actions by the government concerning Starlink.