On October 7, businessman Elon Musk took to X to accuse unnamed “oligarchs” of blocking the entry into India of Starlink, his service that uses a network of low-orbitting satellites to deliver high-speed broadband internet. Musk claimed that this was a “crime against the people of India”.
However, the Indian government said that Musk’s claim was “baseless and misconceived”. It said all three licensed operators of satellite internet (satcom) services in India – Elon Musk’s Starlink, Reliance Jio’s Jio Satcom and the Bharti-backed Eutelsat OneWeb – are at broadly the same stage of the regulatory approval process, each awaiting security clearance before spectrum is assigned.
The spat makes for good theatre. But it frames the wrong question. The issue is not whether Starlink should come to India. It is on whose terms and who will hold the switch when it matters.
Digital divide
India had nearly 1.09 billion internet subscriptions at the end of March, according to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. That hides a divide. Cities have about 127 subscriptions per 100 people but rural India has about 48.
By the estimates of the Internet and Mobile Association of India industry group, roughly 38% of Indians – nearly 58 crore people – are still not active internet users.
Many of...