Beyond Tesla, what is Elon Musk's next big India ambition?
Tesla CEO Elon Musk comes to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not be the car maker's entry into India. There is another matter that has been pending for some time for lack of adequate disclosures.
Musk's India ambition spans from road to space. He has thrown his hat in the ring for the satellite communication, or satcom, a futuristic technology that promises to revolutionise India's telecom sector. Musk, with his satcom company Starlink, will compete with Mukesh Ambani and Sunil Bharti Mittal whose respective companies, Reliance Jio JV with Luxembourg-based SES; and Bharti AIrtel jointly with OneWeb-Eutelsat, are also in the race for satcom spectrum. Another giant, Amazon, is also in the reckoning.
The satcom sector is witnessing intense rivalry even before the start of services. Airtel and Jio stand sharply divided on various issues related to satcom and have battled each other over complexities that surround satcom. The rivalry between the two biggies, with other satcom players also divided sharply, continues. A few days ago, they locked horns over the usage and price of satcom. The main issue, whether satcom spectrum should be allocated administratively or auctioned, has been settled with the new Telecommunication Act, 2023, giving legislative backing to allocation of satellite spectrum via the administrative or the ‘non-auction route’. At present, the DoT is finalising the modalities.
Musk's satcom trouble
But the problem of Musk's Starlink is different. It has yet to receive its GMPCS (global mobile
