Elon Musk Criticizes Mukesh Ambani Over Starlink Regulatory Delays in India

Elon Musk has publicly criticized Mukesh Ambani over regulatory approval delays for Starlink satellite internet in India, Business Insider reported. Musk posted on X on Wednesday criticizing certain oligarchs, and on Thursday explicitly called Ambani the real boss of India. Reliance Industries owns Reliance Jio, which holds over half a billion mobile customers, according to Business Insider. [1]

In addition to Business Insider, CNBC, Forbes, and The Independent also reported on Musk questioning whether Ambani was the real boss of India amid the stalled Starlink launch. Reuters reported that India rejected claims of a telecom monopoly following the comments from Musk. [1][7][8][9][10]

Concurrently, SpaceX has taken steps to expand into the United States mobile carrier market. Digital Trends reported that SpaceX agreed to pay roughly 8 billion dollars to investment firm Grain Management for cellular spectrum licences in the 800MHz band. Ars Technica reported that the deal covers former T-Mobile spectrum and aims to improve indoor mobile coverage for Starlink Mobile. [3][4]

The spectrum purchase caused stock prices for terrestrial operators to decline. Ars Technica reported that stock prices for AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, and AST SpaceMobile fell sharply following the announcement of the agreement between SpaceX and Grain Management. [4]