Sunil Mittal Counters Elon Musk, Says OneWeb Applied for Satcom Licence Five Years Ahead of Starlink
“I think I am significantly ahead in the queue from him. I applied five years back": Reports
NEW DELHI: Amid Elon Musk's criticism on India’s regulation, Bharti Airtel boss Sunil Bharti Mittal on Wednesday said his satcom venture Eutelsat OneWeb is significantly ahead of Musk’s Starlink in the satcom queue in India, with the licence applied five years ago, and added that he would be happy to receive the go-ahead at least a few days before the US tech billionaire.
Speaking at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum 2026, Mittal said, “I think I am significantly ahead in the queue from him. I applied five years back." Mittal was responding to a question on Musk's recent potshots at India's telecom billionaires amid the debate over satellite internet services in the country.
The Airtel chairman further said that his ground network had been ready for the past three years and that the satellites had been hovering over India for five years, and noted the company is yet to receive permission to begin services. “We don't have the permission, so we'll be very happy to get it at least a few days before him,” Mittal said.
In a series of attacks for India, Musk recently alleged on X that Starlink was being blocked by certain oligarchs keen to keep a ‘monopolistic chokehold’ on Indians. The ministry of communications hit back the next day, calling any suggestion that the framework or its application was unfair or discriminatory “baseless and misconceived”. Musk then asked on X whether Reliance Industries' Chairman Mukesh Ambani was the “real boss of India.