India, Sept. 12 -- Even as behemoths like Apple and Google fend off antitrust actions across the globe that are aimed to break the companies' stranglehold over consumers and markets, the telecom sector (mobile telephony, fibre-optics and Internet connectivity) is experiencing a wave of consolidation. Unlike the former, where the objective is to break oligopolies, the latter trend is bound to create new ones. A few days ago, SpaceX, the pioneering satellite company promoted by Elon Musk inked a $17-billion deal to purchase Echostar's spectrum.

Echostar offers telecom services through a brand, Boost Mobile, which has 7.5 million subscribers. After the buyout, these customers can access the famed-and-expensive Starlink Internet and mobile s...