Elon Musk appeared to hit out at lobbying from fellow billionaire Mukesh Ambani following reports the Reliance Industries’ chief had called for an auction to be held to divvy up spectrum for satellite services in India.

Musk took to X to react to a Reuters story which claimed Ambani had taken issue with the Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) reported preference to allocate spectrum, rather than holding an auction, without seeking industry feedback, and subsequently called for the process to start afresh.

Ambani apparently argues an auction should be held because giving out licences to non-domestic players including Musk’s SpaceX creates an uneven playing field and allows the companies to launch voice and data services, and compete with local players.

In a post published yesterday (14 October) quoting the Reuters story, Musk said an auction would be “unprecedented”, pointing to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) longstanding stance on the issue.

“This spectrum was long designated by ITU as shared spectrum for satellites,” wrote Musk.

The TRAI told Reuters it was following a due process of consultation over the matter.

India’s satellite broadband market is set to take off, with Musk planning to bring Starlink service to the country, along with launches from domestic and non-domestic entities including Eutelsat OneWeb and Ambani’s Reliance Jio.

Deloitte predicts India’s space-based broadband market will be worth $1.9 billion by 2030.