What does Elon Musk want from Nepal?

On Elon Musk and Starlink's interest in entering Nepal

Nov 29, 2024

Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening from Kathmandu. This is Issue 165 of KALAM Weekly, the only newsletter you need to keep updated with everything happening in Nepal.

Before we begin, I am so very happy to announce that we have reached our goal of 100 paid supporters! We need just around five more paid subscribers and you came through. Thank you so much to Manohar Sharma, Chiara Letizia, Biva Rajbhandari, Prakriti Lama, and two others who have chosen to remain anonymous. I’m a little overwhelmed by all the support that you’ve shown over these past few months. Truthfully, I didn’t expect to reach a hundred by the end of the year, but you’ve proven me wrong. Can we keep the momentum going and try to get to 120 by the end of the year? It’s soon going to be festival season in the West and its’s a good time as any to consider giving a subscription as a gift to your friends and family. Click this link to gift a subscription. For my Nepali readers, click here and scroll down the page for more information on becoming a paid subscriber.

In this newsletter:

Reminder: Online event with Bhrikuti Rai
Local by-elections on Sunday
Balen Shah and the UML are back at it again
Purna Bahadur ko Sarangi takes Nepal by storm
Nepal Premier League to kick off Saturday
Recommendations
The Deep Dive: What does Elon Musk want from Nepal?

Reminder: Online event with Bhrikuti Rai

In case you’ve forgotten or are just not aware, we will be holding a special online event on December 11 with journalist and podcaster Bhrikuti Rai. We will be speaking about our decisions to leave traditional journalism for new media pursuits like podcasting and a newsletter. It’s going to be an exciting and fun conversation, the first of many to come!

This event is only for paid supporters so if you haven’t pledged a paid subscription, do so now. There is still time. Details on how to register and attend the event will be sent via email in the days to come!

Dear readers, thank you so much for helping me get to a hundred paid supporters. We haven’t even hit December and we’ve already reached our goal! Can we keep the momentum going and try to get to 120 supporters? Your support will allow us to invest in more reporting and pay our reporters fairly. All of the support you show us will go right back into making the newsletter better! Readers in Nepal can click this link for more information on payment while readers abroad can click the button below.

Local by-elections on Sunday

Nepal goes to the polls once again on Sunday for by-elections to fill 44 vacant local-level positions. The polls will elect two district coordination committee chiefs, two rural municipality chairpersons, four vice-chairs, one mayor, one deputy mayor, and 34 ward chairpersons. These positions have been vacant since their holders either died, resigned, or were stripped due to criminal charges. Twenty parties have fielded over 370 candidates.

Of the 44 positions, 30 were previously held by the Nepali Congress, so the party is keen to retain those seats. Even before the election, the Congress has already won two district coordination committee seats in Kailali and Okhaldhunga as there were no other candidates for the positions. The Maoist Center also won the post of Putha Uttarganga Rural Municipality Ward 2 chairperson as its candidate was unopposed.

One of the more interesting contests is set to play out in Kirtipur. Former mayor Rajkumar Nakarmi died earlier this year, and the seat is now up for grabs, with 20 candidates vying for the spot. Besides the mainstream parties, all of whom have fielded candidates, there are 11 independents in the mix. The Rastriya Swatantra Party, the fourth-largest party in the federal Parliament, did not field anyone. Kirtipur, a Newa majority city, will likely elect a Newa mayor. Almost all of the candidates are also Newa. The former mayor was a Congress member, so the party will want to retain its seat, but it faces a tough challenge from the UML and the Maoists. Independents, too, mount a formidable challenge with people like Rajman Manav, a popular social activist, also contesting the position. Two transgender women are also running in Kirtipur. Honey Maharjan is contesting the mayoral position, while Mouna Maharjan is running for ward chair.

The mainstream parties will use the by-elections to test the mood of the electorate. In the last election, independents managed to command crucial local-level positions, including the mayors of Kathmandu, Dharan, and Dhangadhi. The newly formed Rastriya Swatantra Party also swept into Parliament as the fourth-largest party. But in the two years since the election, the shine of these new independents has dulled. Kathmandu Mayor Balen Shah and Dharan Mayor Harka Sampang have both drawn much criticism for their social media posts and their authoritarian ways. The RSP, meanwhile, is in shambles after its chief, Rabi Lamichhane, was placed in police custody on charges of cooperative fraud. Who wins in Kirtipur will signal if the winds still favor the independents or if the traditional mainstream parties will retain their hold.

Balen Shah and the UML are back at it again

Last week, on Friday, the ruling UML party held a “show of force” in Kathmandu, bringing together thousands of party “cadres” to rally in support of the party. They marched from Bhadrakali to Durbar Marg, disrupting traffic and putting on a big show for anyone who deigned to watch. A few hours after the rally was over, Kathmandu Metropolitan City announced that it was issuing the UML party a Rs 100,000 fine for littering. The city said that an assessment by the environmental division and the city police found that the UML rally had thrown garbage all over the streets.

The UML was furious. Party functionaries vehemently denied that they had littered, saying their party members had cleaned up after themselves. When Kathmandu city officials showed up to the UML office on Sunday to hand them their fine in writing, party officials refused to accept it. The city was then forced to send the fine notice via post and email. The UML says it will not pay the fine and has accused Kathmandu Mayor Balen Shah of playing partisan politics. No such penalties were issued in the past for rallies held by the Maoists and the Rastriya Swatantra Party, they say. The city claims that the others did not make a mess, unlike the UML.

This incident is just one more instance in the long-running feud between the UML and Kathmandu Mayor Balen Shah. Shah has called out prime minister and UML chair KP Sharma Oli over social media multiple times — first, over Oli’s alleged role in the Giribandhu Tea Estate scandal and then over the party’s interference in an ongoing criminal case against party member Rekha Sharma over child labor charges. Shah also sent city workers to dump a truckload of dirt in front of the UML-controlled Road Division office to protest the division’s failure to expedite work on the Ring Road expansion. The UML too has played spoilsport to many of the city’s works, including preventing the expansion of footpaths in the New Road area.

In this particular instance, the city is within its rights to issue a fine for littering. I do not believe for an instance that UML cadres cleaned up their mess. Rallies like these almost always end with pamphlets and garbage all over the city streets, which city workers have to clean up. The UML’s charge that Shah is singling them out is also unfounded, given that the city had issued a similar fine to the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) after its rally earlier this year in April. The RPP paid the fine without a fuss. The UML should do the same.

Purna Bahadur ko Sarangi takes Nepal by storm

A film almost forgotten during its initial release has now become the highest-grossing film in Nepali history. Purna Bahadur ko Sarangi, a film by Saroj Poudel, stars Bijay Baral as the titular Purna Bahadur and Prakash Saput as his son, Kamal. They are Gandharvas, traveling minstrels who play the sarangi to make money. But Purna Bahadur envisions a different life for his son. He wants Kamal to become a doctor and not take up the same lifestyle as himself. The film follows Purna Bahadur and Kamal as they try to make ends meet and find a way to send Kamal to medical school. It displays the discrimination that Gandharvas face in Nepali society as Dalits and traveling musicians who beg for a living while also showcasing the bond between a father and his son.

During its initial days in theaters, the film was largely ignored by Nepali audiences. But a following grew on social media as movie-goers began to post their reviews of the film, calling it an emotional tearjerker. It spread through word of mouth and soon, all showings of the film were sold out. Nepalis flocked to see the film, armed with tissues to mop up their tears. In two weeks, the film reportedly made over Rs 270 million in domestic collections, making it the highest-grossing Nepali film. This massive revenue shows that Nepali audiences will see a movie if it tells a good story and provides an emotional connection. Congratulations to the filmmakers. Hopefully, we can see similar numbers for films that are more off-beat and not the usual sob story.

Nepal Premier League to kick off Saturday

Nepal’s first and only homegrown domestic cricket league will be starting on Saturday. The Nepal Premier League will feature eight teams — the Kathmandu Gurkhas, Karnali Yaks, Biratnagar Kings, Chitwan Rhinos, Janakpur Bolts, Lumbini Lions, Pokhara Avengers, and Sudurpaschim Royals. The league will be played in the Twenty20 format with a round-robin followed by playoffs. A total of 32 games will be played, with each game being held at the Tribhuvan University International Cricket Stadium, which is getting a makeover for the league.

Millions of rupees have gone into the selection of players. Each team has a ‘marquee’ player, who are all players from the national team, as captains and up to four international players. The Karnali Yaks have managed to get Shikhar Dhawan, a former national player for India, who is considered one of the greatest ODI (One Day International) batsmen in India. Among other notable international stars are Martin Guptill, a Kiwi who plays for the Biratnagar Kings, Sohail Tanvir, a Pakistani who plays for the Chitwan Rhinos, Chadwick Walton, a West Indian who plays for the Karnali Yaks, and Gerhart Erasmus, captain of the Namibian cricket team who plays for the Kathmandu Gurkhas.

Excitement is high for the NPL, with tickets quickly selling out. Nepalis love cricket, so a domestic league will be eagerly watched. Hopefully, new talent will emerge from the league too. A lot of money has been poured into the league so let’s hope it doesn’t go the way of the previous domestic league, which was mired in corruption and match-fixing.

Recommendations

Kendrick Lamar feat. SZA - Luther

Foreign spouses struggle to navigate Nepali immigration laws by Xenia Claus, The Kathmandu Post

That’s all for this week’s round-up. The Deep Dive continues after the break below.

The deep dive: What does Elon Musk want from Nepal?

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli speaks to Elon Musk. (Image: KP Sharma Oli’s Twitter.)

Last Friday, November 22, at around 10pm at night, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli’s social media pages shared an image — Oli seated in the foreground with Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, on a television screen in the background. The caption read, “Currently talking to Elon Musk.” The post was swiftly followed by another one with a similar photograph but another caption, “A short while ago, during my conversation with Mr. Elon Musk, I extended an invitation for him to visit Nepal.”

There are questions, naturally. Why is Oli talking to Musk? Why is Musk talking to Oli? What did they talk about? Will Musk come to Nepal? Did Oli crack a folksy joke that flew over Musk’s head? Did Musk promise to send an ‘X’ on his ‘X’ so others can ‘X’ it and re-‘X’ it? I’ll try to answer most of those questions in this deep dive.

We all know Elon Musk, once celebrated as a visionary, now derided as a deeply narcissistic and somewhat unhinged billionaire. He runs a bunch of companies, including the rocket company SpaceX, the electric car company Tesla, the construction company The Boring Company, the neurotechnology company Neuralink, and the artificial intelligence company xAI. And oh yes, the social media site formerly known as Twitter. Musk’s infamous purchase of the site that was once the go-to site for on-the-ground news and information is slowly turning it into a cesspit of right-wing grifters, OnlyFans ‘models,’ and Musk fanboys. It’s not as bad in Nepal as it is in the US, though. Musk has renamed Twitter to ‘X’, a move that marketing students will probably be studying years down the line on how to squander a unique and coveted brand image built over decades. Tweet had become a verb!

All that aside, Musk also runs Starlink, a telecommunications company that is a wholly owned subsidiary of SpaceX. Starlink uses thousands of satellites that are orbiting the earth to provide direct mobile broadband internet, no wires necessary. Starlink provides you with an antenna that you can stick on your roof. The antenna connects to a satellite and then provides your router with internet access. Since launching to the public in 2021, Starlink has acquired more than 4 million customers in over 100 countries and territories, it claims. Now, Musk is eyeing Nepal.

Since 2022, backdoor consultations have been ongoing between SpaceX representatives and the Nepali political and business community. The US Embassy in Kathmandu has been facilitating these meetings, with former US Ambassador Randy Berry and current US Ambassador Dean Thompson actively participating. In 2022, Nepal Minute quoted an unidentified official from the Nepal Telecommunications Authority who said that the Starlink team had approached Nepal for “licenses and regulatory approval nearly a year ago.” At that time, Nepali businessmen and officials had discouraged Starlink from entering Nepal due to domestic tensions over the Millenium Challenge Corporation, according to Republica. The same official went on to say that expansion plans to Nepal appeared to have stalled as, a year later, Starlink had not followed through.

The sticking point appeared to be Nepali law regarding investment in the telecommunications sector, which mandates that any foreign company investing in Nepal must have a Nepali partner. Clause 5.6.2 of the Nepal Telecommunications Policy 2004 states, “Foreign investment shall be attracted in the telecommunication sector. Minimum 20 (twenty) per cent native participation shall be required for such investment.” This requirement is in place for sensitive sectors like telecommunications, as having wholly foreign-owned companies could be a national security risk. Musk and Starlink, however, want to retain their 100% stake in the company, as they’ve done elsewhere.

Still, negotiations have continued. In March 2023, officials from Starlink held a virtual meeting with officials from the Nepal Telecommunications Authority and again, in June 2023, representatives from Starlink India met with then Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal and officials from the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology in person. Then, earlier this year in July, Rebecca Slick Hunter, director of global licensing and market activation at Starlink, visited Nepal and met with Prime Minister Oli and Minister for Communication and Information Technology Prithvi Subba Gurung. Hunter and her team reportedly briefed the Nepali officials on how Starlink worked, the services it would provide, how it planned to enter Nepal, and its data protection policies.

The team, however, was insistent on retaining a 100% stake and has reportedly even offered to register as a trading company rather than a telecom provider. Trading companies are not required to hold the same 20% local stake. But Nepali officials are not buying the argument that all Starlink would do is sell its antennas and routers. Those antennas would ultimately connect to Starlink satellites and provide internet services, making Starlink a telecom company.

Given this spate of meetings, Starlink appears very keen on entering Nepal. The only question is, why? Nepal is a fast urbanizing country, and high-speed internet is not really a challenge for much of Nepal. Starlink would only be useful in the high mountains where rugged terrain holds back broadband internet. How many such villages would purchase Starlink? A few hundred? A few thousand? I don’t believe those numbers would justify the investment that Starlink would need to make in Nepal. Urban consumers might also switch to Starlink if it offers its promised “high speed, low latency” internet at relatively low costs. Internet speed in Nepal, while decent, is far behind that of many other countries, but latency is still very high, often 120 milliseconds, depending on where you are. Starlink hopes to achieve a latency of 20ms worldwide, even if it is around 60ms on average currently. Latency refers to the time it takes for data from your computer or mobile device to reach a server and return. The average latency in developed countries with fiber optic cables is around 10-12ms.

But maybe it’s not just money that Musk is looking to make. He already has enough of that. What he craves is power and influence, as exemplified by his purchase of Twitter. Nepal is a geopolitically sensitive country and I am certain that Musk is looking both southward and northward. Starlink is already attempting to make in-roads in India, despite stiff challenges from homegrown internet service providers like Reliance and Airtel. With its potential millions of customers, India is Starlink's real cash cow. If Starlink monopolizes the satellite internet market in India, Musk will have unprecedented sway over one of India’s vital infrastructures. Maybe Nepal is just an entry point to India for Musk.

The north is more of a conundrum. China will not allow Starlink to operate within its borders. China is already pursuing its own satellite internet with Qianfan. But lest we forget, Musk is basically a government actor now. The US government has come to depend on Musk, willingly or unwillingly. During the early days of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Musk magnanimously provided Ukraine with Starlink but then, a year later, threatened to cut off Starlink as the costs were too high. The US government was forced to step in and cover all costs as the risk of Ukrainians losing access to the internet was too high. Now, Musk is in the Trump administration as the “efficiency czar.” And let’s also not forget that the US embassy and its ambassadors have been directly helping Musk in Nepal.

Starlink’s deployment in Nepal would be a net positive for the US establishment beyond just one company's commercial interests. Chinese companies like Huawei and ZTE have been attempting to pilot 5G mobile internet in Nepal, but geopolitics have stymied those trials, with the Americans and Indians sternly cautioning Nepal against using Chinese companies. Starlink could provide an alternative, stealing 5G from under the nose of Chinese companies and thereby reducing Nepal’s reliance on China. Starlink could also be used for geospatial data collection, especially in the mountainous regions bordering China. Starlink could even support military capabilities and intelligence gathering in the event of any conflict. I’m certain China will not be pleased if Nepal becomes a hub for American satellite technology with the potential for weaponization or intelligence gathering.

This, of course, might not happen, but it is definitely a concern for China, given Musk and Starlink’s ties to the US government. If Starlink enters Nepal, the Chinese will not take it lying down. There will be competition. Should Nepal enter into this geopolitical quagmire? That depends. If Musk agrees to comply with Nepali laws, then Nepal could benefit from Starlink. There are numerous applications for Starlink in Nepal, from telemedicine in the high mountains to tracking tourists lost in the hills while hiking. For a country so prone to natural disasters that destroy sensitive infrastructure, Starlink could be a game changer.

But Starlink comes with Musk attached, and Musk comes with Donald Trump and the US establishment. And given the fickle, narcissistic personalities of both Musk and Trump, we need to ask if this is a risk worth taking.

That’s all for this week. I will be back next Friday, in your emails, for the next edition of KALAM Weekly.

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