Sunder

Dear Elon @elonmusk You hv certainly stirred up plenty of reaction with ur posts. But this needs a response from me, as did ur “Electronic Voting machines can be hacked” post from some time ago. As someone who knows a little bit abt Telecom as someone who played a decent-ish role in building Indias wireless sector as an Entrepreneur and then as a policy maker , let me share my thoughts. It is true that Indias Telecom was a sector beset with opaqueness and corruption for several decades - where cronies ruled under the benevolent love and the politics of ur latest fan (name not withheld - @RahulGandhi ) But under PM @narendramodi , 3 principles govern the tech (including Telecom/Internet) sector. Open, Safe & Trusted and Accountable. #OSTA ✅ Open - Free from any monopoly-duopoly. Free and fair competition. ✅ #SafeAndTrusted - Infra, Network , Platforms must be safe and trusted. ✅ Accountable - Every participant should be legally accountable for safety and trust. I was a MP first and then part of PM @narendramodi jis team when this framework was developed. I have more than a little experience of fighting years of political and bureaucratic opaqueness and corruption, which shaped these principles. so todays India is not that old crony driven India. I am not in govt anymore and certainly dont speak for it. But it seems to me that Govt has made it clear: all three satcom licensees are at broadly the same stage of ensuring security clearance by verifying its safety and trust first, then spectrum. Satellite IP services have many security implications. More so in a country like India which has faced years of Terror and insurgency supported by inmical state actors in our neighbourhood. From 26/11 terror attacks to recent ones in Pahalgam, satcom has been preferred comm for Terrorists. Satellite VOIP and encryption creates more challenges security wise. Not insurmountable but new capabilities and capacity hv to be built to ensure Safety and Trust. I hv used @Starlink and I think its awesome technology - and represents a new era in mobility innovation. No doubt. But a country has to plan for itself and its interests before every new choice. Thats what India is doing. Patience is unavoidable and in this case is a necessity.