Musk vows affordable Starlink in India days before Ambani's record Jio IPO

BENGALURU: Elon Musk announced plans to offer Starlink's satellite internet service affordably in India, a move aimed at challenging Mukesh Ambani's low-cost Reliance Jio, as the latter prepares for the country's largest-ever IPO. Jio Platforms, the parent company of Jio, is targeting a valuation of $106 billion for the offering.

Similar to SpaceX's Starlink, Jio's satellite venture is currently awaiting final security clearance to launch. Like Jio, Musk used low-cost data strategies to disrupt local telecom players in markets like Kenya. SpaceX now intends to enter the mobile carrier market itself, beginning in the US. However, Musk did not specify the prices for India, noting that mobile data costs about 8 cents per gigabyte, among the lowest in the world.

"If Starlink is too expensive in India, no one will buy it, so SpaceX will need to make pricing affordable," Musk stated on social media platform X. He cautioned that competition would benefit the average Indian citizen by providing more choices, stating that Ambani's profits would decrease but he wouldn't go out of business. Musk's remarks came amidst a series of social media posts accusing Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government and Ambani of delaying Starlink's entry into India to favor the market leader Jio.

Musk referred to Ambani as "Prime Minister Ambani" and questioned him directly about allowing Starlink to compete. India's government has dismissed Musk's claims, asserting that the three satellite ventures seeking to launch, including Starlink's and Jio's, are all awaiting the same final security clearance. In his final social media post on Friday, Musk taunted Ambani, questioning whether he would "consider allowing Starlink to compete." Reliance has not commented on Musk's remarks.