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Musk, Ambani eyeing India satellite broadband launches

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India minister says spectrum allocation means more user

choices

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Minister Scindia downplays concerns of impact on sector

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Companies must evolve as technologies change, Scindia says

By Aditya Kalra and Aditi Shah

NEW DELHI, Jan 20 (Reuters) - India's decision to

allocate satellite spectrum, rather than auction it, will give

consumers more choice, the telecoms minister said on Monday,

playing down concern by Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio that it

could lose out to Elon Musk's Starlink.

Starlink has long wanted to launch in India and has in

recent months clashed with billionaire Ambani's company over how

the country should grant spectrum for satellite services.

Reliance had urged an auction but the Indian government

sided with Musk who wanted it to be allocated administratively,

in line with global trends. Analysts say an auction, requiring

much more investment, would likely deter foreign rivals.

Ambani said he wanted a level playing field and has been

worried that his telecom company, which spent $19 billion in

airwave auctions, now risks losing broadband customers to

Starlink and potentially even data and voice clients later as

technology advances.

"My job as telecoms minister is to make sure that you have

as many choices as possible," Jyotiraditya Scindia told Reuters

during an interview at his ministry's office in New Delhi.

Asked if there was merit in Reliance's concerns, he said,

without naming any company: "Technology is never constant",

adding that companies need to keep evolving.

Scindia noted that current satellite technology for

communications requires devices to have the sky in their sight,

and smartphones cannot use that technology for indoor services

that are provided by terrestrial networks.

"The minute you come into this building, you're done," he

said.

India is one of the world's biggest telecom markets with 942

million users and stiff competition among Reliance and rivals

Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea. Data prices

are among the cheapest in the world and internet connectivity

has risen rapidly.

Deloitte predicts India's satellite broadband service market

will be worth $1.9 billion by 2030, making it lucrative for

players like Starlink, Amazon ( AMZN ) and Ambani.

Scindia said Starlink and Amazon Kuiper's applications for a

licence to launch satellite broadband services in the country

were still under review.

VODAFONE IDEA

Musk has a reputation for disrupting markets. In Kenya, he

priced Starlink at $10 per month, versus $120 in the United

States, prompting a complaint by Kenya's Safaricom

last year.

A former aviation minister, Scindia is also overseeing many

more telecom initiatives for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

India's government owns a stake in Vodafone Idea, and the

company in November disclosed it still had around $24 billion in

dues owed to the government.

Scindia repeatedly declined to answer in the interview if

there were any plans for relief on the outstanding dues.

The Indian government is, however, working towards reviving

state-run telecom player, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL),

which lost market share amid fierce competition over the years,

he said.

BSNL has 99 million users but is being supported with

expanded offerings of 4G services.

(Reporting by Aditya Kalra and Aditi Shah; Additional reporting

by Munsif Vengattil; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)