Bloomberg Television · Oct 14, 2026 · 50m · 43m saved
With Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman of Bharti Enterprises · Kevin Sneader, President of Asia-Pacific ex-Japan at Goldman Sachs
Bharti Enterprises' chairman told Bloomberg Television that he applied for Indian satellite approval five years ago, long before Elon Musk's Starlink.
Musk has accused India's telecom billionaires of blocking Starlink's access to spectrum. Sunil's answer is that his own venture got in line first.
"I think I am significantly ahead in the queue from him. I applied five years back, my satellites have been hovering over India for the last five years." — Sunil Bharti Mittal
Sunil is one of India's telecom and satellite tycoons, and his satellite venture is waiting on the same Indian regulators as Starlink. His comments closed a full episode of The Pulse with Francine Lacqua, broadcast from the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in New Delhi, which also covered US trade talks, Swiss tariffs, the Houthi strike on Aramco, bank deals and AI chip demand.
The full episode is covered here so you can skip it. 50 minutes of audio, 7 minutes of reading.
Here are the 8 takeaways that matter.
Key Takeaways
Sunil says his satellite venture is ahead of Starlink in India's approval queue
He applied five years ago, and his satellites have been over India since
India's foreign minister says the US is a strategic partner, not an ally
Switzerland's US tariff settled at 15% all-in, down from as high as 39%
Brent at $106 reflects fear of escalation, not lost oil flows, according to Bloomberg's Will Kennedy
Goldman Sachs counts 42 Indian AI companies growing about 60% together
Commerzbank expects to be consolidated into UniCredit by Q1 2027 at the latest
1. Bharti's 5-Year Head Start
Sunil was responding to Musk's charge that Indian telecom billionaires are keeping Starlink away from satellite spectrum. His reply is about timing: he applied five years ago, and his satellites have been over India for the same five years.
Sunil says Bharti is well ahead of Starlink in India's regulatory queue
"I've already said that we are all awaiting our approvals. I think I am significantly ahead in the queue from him. I applied five years back, my satellites have been hovering over India for the last five years. We are very happy to get at least a few days before." — Sunil Bharti Mittal
Sunil described it as a queue in which every applicant, his venture included, is still waiting for approval.
Bloomberg's Asia correspondent placed the dispute inside a wider argument over technological sovereignty. Governments are deciding who controls a satellite or AI company's operating decisions and where its data is stored, and that question is now surfacing around the world.
