Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi
New Delhi, Oct 8: The Centre on Thursday rejected as “baseless and misconceived” Elon Musk’s claim that certain “oligarchs” were blocking his company’s satellite communication services in India.
In a statement, the Ministry of Communications said the government has established a fair and non-discriminatory authorisation framework for all telecommunications services, including satellite communication services.
The ministry said telecom licences have been granted to three Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite (GMPCS) service providers using non-geosynchronous orbit-based satellite communications.
According to the ministry, all three licensees are required to demonstrate compliance with security requirements under the terms of their licences. The security assessment process is currently underway for all three entities.
The ministry said a licensed entity can proceed to seek spectrum assignment once the security assessment is completed. It added that all three companies are currently at broadly the same regulatory stage.
“The suggestion that the framework or its application is unfair or discriminatory is baseless and misconceived,” the ministry said.
Musk had alleged that “certain oligarchs” were blocking his company’s satellite communication services in India to protect their monopoly. He made the remarks in response to a post on X highlighting the lack of mobile coverage in thousands of Indian villages.
“Unfortunately, we are being blocked by certain oligarchs in order to maintain their monopolistic chokehold on the Indian people,” Musk posted, without naming the companies he was referring to.
The post he responded to claimed that 11,256 listed Indian villages still lacked 4G coverage as of May 2026. It also highlighted the progress and operational status of the BharatNet fibre network.
According to the post, BharatNet had laid more than 850,000 route-km of fibre and made around 221,000 Gram Panchayats service-ready, while Points of Presence were reported to be operational at 80,472 Gram Panchayats in June 2026.