Jio To Apply for 6G Patents Before its Commercial Rollout

Elon Musk’s latest diatribe notwithstanding, Mukesh Ambani-led Indian Telecom giant Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd has indicated that the company has been proceeding ahead with its scheduled application for 6G patents ahead of technology’s wider commercial rollout.

While speaking at the sidelines of the Indian Mobile Congress 2026, Reliance Jio chairman Akash Ambani declined to be drawn into any rebuttal to Mr. Musk’s veiled attack on his father Mukesh Ambani and stressed that his one and only concern ‘is the company’s Indian consumers to whom Jio is committed to provide secure service.’

According to him, the company has been focussed on developing latest technology that could benefit Indian consumers and to this extent, the Jio’s exhibition in the Congress featured its latest stride in satellite communication, Jio VoiceAI, 5G infrastructure and Jio’s progress in technology linked to 6G network.

Emphasising that the proposed Jio IPO must not be viewed merely as a fund-raising exercise, the Reliance Infocomm chairman stated that the company is aiming to expand from telecom connectivity to technology-led businesses including AI and next generation digital services.

The proposed Jio Platform’s IPO is expected to raise approximately between ₹30,000 crore and ₹37,700 crore (roughly $3.8 billion), making it potentially India's largest-ever public offering.

Interestingly, Reliance Jio has unveiled its plan of a sovereign low earth orbit constellation of its own, and is considering a network of 1,600 to 1,650 satellites at an estimated cost of $10-15 billion.

Elon Musk’s Charge

Days before the Congress, Elon Musk said on X that "certain oligarchs" were blocking Starlink to keep their monopoly hold over Indian consumers.

“Elon Musk X @elonmusk

Dear Prime Minister Ambani, 

Please accept my humble apologies for not realizing that you are the real boss of India. 

Naturally, you would prefer to maintain your monopolistic exploitation of the great people of India, but would you nonetheless consider allowing Starlink to compete? 

There are many areas of India, as there are in all countries, with no Internet access, which denies children the opportunity for education and for small businesses the opportunity to sell their goods to a global market. Starlink would change their lives for the better. 

Thank you.”

Mr Musk also questioned that despite spending over five years in complying with every single law and requirements of the government of India, why no license has still been granted to it.

But a user in X posted a rebuttal to Mr. Musk:

“BYD cars are allowed in India, Australia, Japan, UK, Europe and 121 countries.

But BYD is not allowed in USA due to Tesla.

Is Elon Musk the real Boss of USA?

Also, Airtel and Jio both have also not got licence for Satellite Internet, same as Starlink.

Everyone treated equally.”

The Union Ministry of Telecommunication which described the allegation as "baseless and misconceived", said without naming the SpaceX chairman that the government runs a fair and non-discriminatory authorisation framework for all telecom services, satcom included, and that licences have been granted to three Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite (GMPCS) providers using non-geosynchronous orbit satellites.

But all the three are still ‘sitting at the same regulatory stage.’

Worry of the Union Telecom Ministry

By referring to ‘the three’ the ministry wanted to convey to Starlink that it is not the only one waiting. The three others are Eutelsat OneWeb, which is backed by Bharti, and Jio Satellite Communications Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Jio Platforms and Amazon Leo, owned by Jeff Bezos, which is reported to be also in contention for a licence.

Next, sources quoting the ministry said that the government has a specific worry. The government’s apprehension stems from the fact that overseas operators could bypass Indian gateways to offer services over which the Indian authorities might lose control within a period of time.

Because these gateways are earth stations on Indian soil that link satellite constellations to domestic telecom networks, and all traffic starting or ending in India is meant to pass through them.

Hence, the security assessment benchmark is extremely crucial. According to the Ministry, every licensee must comply with security conditions meant to protect users and their data, and that this check is mandatory.

Presently, this regulatory check has been under way for all three licence holders. Once this rigorous regulatory check is complete, the next step which is application for spectrum allocation, will be taken up. However, there has been no timeline given by the Ministry.

Starlink operates the world's largest satellite constellation, with around 7,000 satellites in orbit.