Musk Accuses Ambani of Blocking Starlink in India as Police Shut Internet Within 2.5 Miles
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Oct 14
Musk Accuses Ambani of Blocking Starlink in India as Police Shut Internet Within 2.5 Miles
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Oct 14
Summary
Elon Musk said last week that Starlink was being blocked from operating in India by “certain oligarchs,” then identified Mukesh Ambani, owner of Jio, as the rival he meant.
Jio, India’s largest mobile network, is developing its own low-earth-orbit satellite system, giving Ambani a direct commercial interest in slowing a Starlink launch.
India’s government may be the bigger hurdle: before election-roll protests in New Delhi on Saturday, police cut mobile data within a 2.5-mile radius in the city center.
Those shutdowns have become a routine crowd-control tool in India, underscoring that control over internet access—not just market rivalry—shapes Starlink’s prospects.
Are national security rules secretly shielding India's telecom monopolies from Starlink, or is the government simply protecting its sovereign digital borders?
If satellite internet bypasses traditional cell towers, could this new space race finally end the era of government-mandated internet shutdowns?