Billionaire Musk promises affordable Starlink prices in India — Channel NewsAsia

Billionaire Elon Musk said SpaceX must set affordable prices for Starlink satellite internet in India, where the company plans to compete with telecom operator Reliance Jio. Channel NewsAsia reports this ahead of the initial public offering of Jio Platforms.

Prices for the Indian market

In a post on social media platform X, Musk said that Starlink would not be in demand in India if it were too expensive. According to him, competition will give the country’s residents more choice, while Mukesh Ambani’s profits may decline. Musk did not name specific prices for India.

Mobile internet in the country costs about 8 cents per gigabyte, one of the lowest rates in the world. Affordable tariffs have been the foundation of Jio’s growth in India; SpaceX has also used price competition in other markets, including Kenya.

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Jio IPO and launch authorization

Jio Platforms, which owns Jio’s telecom business, is seeking a valuation of $106 billion in the share offering, which could become the largest IPO in India’s history. Jio’s own satellite project, like Starlink, is awaiting final security clearance to begin operations.

In a series of posts, Musk accused the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Ambani of delaying Starlink’s entry into the Indian market in favor of Jio. Indian authorities rejected allegations of bias and said that all three satellite projects seeking to begin operations, including Starlink and Jio’s project, have not yet received final security clearance. Reliance did not respond to requests for comment on Musk’s statements.