Industry Odisha Bureau, Oct 17: Starlink says its Indian gateways and systems carry the requisite government approval. Reliance welcomes the rivalry but stresses legal compliance. Airtel’s Sunil Mittal says OneWeb is ahead in the queue.
Starlink says it is ready to offer high-speed internet in India. The Elon Musk-led company made the claim on X on Friday. Its post sharpened a public feud over India’s satellite broadband market.
Starlink said it has worked with Indian regulators, industry and operators for over five years. It said it has built dedicated systems and gateways inside the country. This infrastructure is designed to handle only Indian traffic securely, it added. Starlink said all of it carries the requisite government approval.
Readiness, however, is not the same as permission to sell services. Satellite networks need ground gateways to link orbiting satellites with terrestrial networks. Commercial launches can require authorisations beyond infrastructure clearances. Starlink’s post did not give a launch date or pricing.
The post tagged a statement Reliance Industries issued earlier that day. In its first direct response to Musk, the Mukesh Ambani-led group welcomed satellite competition. That included competition from Starlink, it said. But Reliance insisted every player, Jio included, must follow Indian laws and policies.
Reliance said it has never feared competition. It described competition as the best test of who serves customers well. It cited Jio’s journey as evidence. Jio entered a crowded market in 2016 with no customers. Within ten years, Reliance says, Jio has won over 530 million customers.
Reliance said India’s openness to investment, homegrown or foreign, rests on the rule of law. It said the government applies one process to every applicant, Indian or foreign. Jio’s own satellite services still await clearances, Reliance added.
Government sources had already set out the Centre’s stance earlier this week. Any company doing business in India must comply with Indian law, they said. They said the position has not changed since the applications were made. These remarks are not a formal regulatory order.
Bharti Airtel chairman Sunil Mittal has also entered the debate. Speaking at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum 2026, he backed his own venture. Mittal said Eutelsat OneWeb was well ahead of Starlink in the approval queue. He said OneWeb applied five years ago but still lacks permission.
OneWeb’s ground network has been ready for three years, Mittal said. Its satellites, he added, have covered India for five years. He would be happy, he said, to get approval a few days before Starlink. His account of the queue is not an official government ranking.
The pushback follows sharp criticism from Musk himself. The world’s richest man accused powerful business interests of blocking Starlink’s entry. Those allegations have not been independently verified.
The clash shows how valuable India’s satellite internet market has become. Starlink and OneWeb say their networks are ready, while Jio awaits clearances too. Satellite broadband could help reach remote areas that terrestrial networks struggle to serve. The pace of approvals, not readiness alone, will decide who goes live first.
