Starlink noted that it had spent over five years building relationships with India's regulators and industry participants, responding to a statement from Reliance Industries Ltd that the country's satellite communications regulations apply equally to domestic and foreign operators.
In filings submitted to regulators alongside a public statement, the firm outlined how its Indian operations are now underpinned by domestically built systems, gateway facilities, and the wider supporting infrastructure required to deliver broadband service nationally — each element having passed through the relevant government authorisation channels — with nationwide connectivity described as ready to launch.
A satellite-communications licence has been granted to Starlink for operations in India, though the company is required to obtain security clearances and additional regulatory approvals before any commercial rollout can proceed.
In a Friday statement, Reliance Industries conveyed openness to competition in satellite communications — Starlink included — and noted that every operator serving India's population carries an obligation to follow the country's laws and policies, adding that the statement was intended to set out the facts in response to recent remarks about the company and its market.
Reliance's statement noted that, like other enterprises operating domestically, the company has developed within a business environment that has historically been open to both local and foreign investment and to innovations that benefit the population. The paper further held that genuine openness rests on whether the rule of law is actually followed.
Reliance also put forward the position that marketplace rivalry has always been welcomed rather than avoided, describing it as the clearest measure of which businesses genuinely meet customer needs. Regulatory approvals for Jio's planned satellite operations have yet to come through.
Officials maintain that every person who submits an application — whether a national of that country or from abroad — moves through an identical review procedure.
When Jio launched operations across India's telecommunications sector in 2016, its subscriber base stood at zero. Over the period since, Jio has accumulated a subscriber base exceeding 530 million, while rolling out digital networks and low-cost data access across India.
The week prior, Elon Musk took to social media to address Mukesh Ambani as the person he characterised as holding ultimate power in India, posting an apology for having overlooked that influence, and then asking — in a message directed at Ambani with the salutation "Dear Prime Minister" — whether Ambani would nonetheless consider opening the market to Starlink's entry, even as Musk's post framed Ambani's position as one built on monopolistic control over the country's population. Musk subsequently responded to the post on X with a brief expression of thanks.
