Reliance pushes India’s telecom to reconsider its plan not to auction satellite spectrum but to simply allocate it, in a fresh clash with Elon Musk’s Starlink. India’s telecoms Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said the government would allocate spectrum administratively in line with global trends but a final notification on how spectrum is given out will come after the telecom watchdog TRAI gives its feedback.
Elon Musk’s Starlink has express interest in launching in India following a successful launch in Africa which left local players bruise by low broadband prices and favours the government’s approach to allocating spectrum.
Ravi Gandhi, a Reliance policy executive, urge the telecom regulator TRAI, but, to review the decision, noting in an open house discussion hosted by TRAI that the move to allocate spectrum administratively is “the most discriminatory method of assigning any kind of government resource”.
Starlink India executive Parnil Urdhwareshe on the other hand said India’s allocation plan was “forward-looking”.
Mukesh Ambani has India’s biggest telecom company, Reliance Jio.
Analysts say a spectrum auction, requiring much more investment, would likely deter foreign rivals.
The TRAI’s recommendations, which will be form over coming weeks, will be critical in deciding the future course of how satellite spectrum is dole out.
Reliance, which has dominate India’s telecom sector for years, is concern that after spending $19 billion in airwave auctions it risks losing broadband customers to Elon Musk, and potentially even data and voice clients later as technology advances, as per report.
The methodology of giving out spectrum for satellite services in India has a topic of contention between the billionaires.
Elon Musk’s Starlink, a unit of SpaceX, has 6,400 active satellites orbiting earth to provide low-latency broadband to 4 million customers.
Mukesh Ambani once gave data for free on his mobile plans, but Elon Musk is no stranger to such tactics.
