Mukesh Ambani challenges Musk's Starlink's plans for India

Still, Mukesh Ambani, the richest man in Asia and the owner of the Indian telecom behemoth Reliance Jio is putting up a fierce fight.

Musk said he was eager to launch Starlink in India after visiting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi there. Starlink, Musk added, "can be incredibly helpful" in outlying communities without high-speed services or internet, and it "can be incredibly helpful" in rural areas.He omitted to mention that Starlink and Ambani's Reliance disagree over how the government distributes satellite broadband spectrum, setting up a conflict between two of the wealthiest men in the world over satellite services in the country with the largest population.

According to a worldwide trend, Starlink is urging India just to award licenses rather than auction the spectrum, arguing that it is a natural resource that businesses should share. Geographical limitations imposed by auction may increase expenses, it said in corporate communications that the Indian government made public last month. Reliance disagrees and has demanded an auction in a public filing to the government, arguing that there must be an auction to provide a fair playing field since foreign satellite service providers might supply voice and data services and compete with established telecom firms.