"The suggestion that the framework or its application is unfair or discriminatory is baseless and misconceived," announced the Union Ministry of Communications in an official statement this morning.
It came at the heels of billionaire Elon Musk alleging certain irregularities in getting Starlink up and running in India.
To a user who stated that Starlink was needed in India, Musk posted on X in response: "Unfortunately, we are being blocked by certain oligarchs in order to maintain their monopolistic chokehold on the Indian people. You can guess who they are… This is a crime against the people of India!"
This post went viral. The Centre responded, "A post is being circulated on social media regarding the fairness of India’s regulatory framework for satellite communication services and suggesting that it is being applied in a discriminatory manner."
"The Government has put in place a fair and non-discriminatory authorisation framework for all telecommunication services, including satellite communication services. Under this, telecom licences have been granted to three Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite services based on non-geosynchronous satellite orbit-based satellite communications, as part of its commitment to enable provision of satellite communication services in India," the ministry said.
The Centre also stressed that every licensee was required to demonstrate compliance with security conditions, which were set up to ensure "that services provided meet various security requirements to ensure safety of all users and their data."
The ministry also stated that all licensees were at the same stage of the regulatory processes. "Security assessment as part of this process is currently under way in respect of all three licensees. As and when this process is completed for a licensed entity, it may proceed to the next step of seeking assignment of spectrum."
