Having just lost a battle with Elon Musk over how India's satellite spectrum is awarded, Asia's richest man Mukesh Ambani could face a bigger challenge if Musk's Starlink launches services in India and the two go head-to-head on price.

Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio has been vocal about the need to allocate such spectrum through an auction to give a level playing field to legacy operators.

India is set to allocate spectrum for satellite services through administrative means rather than auction, a decision that aligns with recent comments by Elon Musk and rebuffs lobbying efforts by the country's largest telecom operators.

India's government on Tuesday said it will allot spectrum for satellite broadband administratively and not via auction, hours after Elon Musk criticized the auction route being sought by rival billionaire Mukesh Ambani as "unprecedented".

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Starlink boss Elon Musk said a move by India to auction satellite broadband spectrum, and not allocate it, would be "unprecedented", reacting to a Reuters story that rival billionaire Mukesh Ambani was lobbying for the auction route.

Clarifying on satellite spectrum allocation, Union telecom minister Jyotiraditya Scindia says the Telecom Act passed in December 2023 has very clearly stated that for satcom spectrum will be allocated administratively. Scindia, however, says it does not mean that spectrum will come without a cost.

Elon Musk’s Starlink Inc. has logged a win in the fight for India’s satellite broadband market with a government minister saying the spectrum will be allocated, and not auctioned as sought by homegrown billionaires Mukesh Ambani and Sunil Mittal.

India’s decision to allocate satellite spectrum through administrative means, bypassing the auction method, appears to favor global players like Elon Musk’s Starlink and Amazon’s Project Kuiper. Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia confirmed the administrative allocation process for satellite services,

While Elon Musk could be celebrating a minor victory with the Indian government upholding administrative allocation of spectrum and leveling the ground, the exciting times for communication may have just begun for India.

Billionaire Elon Musk said he appreciated India’s decision to allocate spectrum for satellite broadband administratively instead of auctioning it. What Happened: Replying to a post on X, Musk said he will do his best to “serve the people of India with Starlink“.