Satellite fever hits India

• Starlink and other challengers want assigned spectrum, incumbents want auctions
• Indian users want more bandwidth and lower prices
• Billionaires Musk (SpaceX) and Mukesh Ambani (Reliance Jio) square up for fisticuffs

Asian telecom satellite frenzy is hitting hard in India as Elon Musk looks set to win a licence and be “administratively assigned” spectrum for his direct-to-cell, satellite-based service, Starlink. Understandably, the likelihood that the controversial Musk, the world’s richest man, could set up shop in India is raising hackles – not least from rival Indian telecom magnates who worry about the scope of his ambition and the possibility that Starlink may eventually become a disruptive vehicle for Musk to attain dominance in the Indian telecoms market, potentially by far the world’s largest.

Starlink's direct-to-cell satellite technology can work with existing phones and internet of things (IoT) devices using LTE-4G standards with no change to the user’s hardware, firmware, or downloading apps.

This month Starlink moved a step closer to a commercial launch in Japan with KDDI (see KDDI advances direct-to-cell plan with Starlink), following a successful trial which linked standard smartphones, via satellite, to KDDI’s au mobile service, using KDDI spectrum.

The KDDI/Starlink arrangement envisages satellite connectivity as very much a backup option when terrestrial connectivity is unavailable due to local outages, storms, earthquakes and so on. However, Indian telcos worry that Musk plans to go further in India and set up a complete end-to-end cell and broadband service, which could conceivably compete with the nationwide telecom services on offer from the two dominant Indian players.

Musk has been arguing that spectrum for the services shouldn’t be auctioned, but rather “administratively assigned”, since auctions would raise costs and impose geographical restrictions – the implication being that auction-based spectrum distribution would make it difficult to justify bringing broadband to remote or underserved parts of India, doing so being one of Musk’s key arguments for his getting a licence.

Indian telecom magnate, Mukesh Ambani, one of India’s billionaires who runs India’s telecom giant Reliance Jio, is particularly vociferous on the counter-attack, arguing that spectrum to put new entrant satellite players on a level playing field with incumbents who pay billions to the government for their spectrum, would be grossly unfair and destabilising.

Ambani points out that getting enough capacity to support broadband services would make it eminently feasible for Musk to compete with the incumbents on voice and text services as well.

Ambani’s concerns appear to be shared with many voices expressing concern that allowing easy access to India’s telecom markets to established foreign players could give them an unfair advantage over Indian firms.

While the old auctions versus spectrum assignment debate is about as old as commercial satellite service itself (and unlikely ever to be properly resolved) a broader ripple of unease is swirling around the risks of letting the now highly politicised Musk into Indian business and (inevitably) Indian politics.

In the US, he has this year thrown his full support behind presidential candidate Donald Trump, has full control of the pivotal X (formerly Twitter) social media site, and is not afraid to push his own agendas from the platform. Plus, observers worry that Musk’s links with the US government (of which there are many) mean he may be a straight-forward national security risk.

In addition, just to complete the charge-sheet, Musk already has ‘form’ for regulatory misbehaviour in India: According to the Economic Times of India his current push into satellite “comes after a 2021 attempt to launch Starlink in India ran afoul of local regulators for taking bookings without a licence.”

– Ian Scales, Contributing Editor, TelecomTV