Indonesia grants license to Musk’s SpaceX unit Starlink, to provide internet to remote areas
- Musk’s Starlink satellite company has been granted business licences to operate in Indonesia, a senior communication and information ministry official said
- Indonesia is an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands, and Jakarta is seeking to connect millions of its population who are not hooked up to reliable internet
Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite company has been granted business licences to operate in Indonesia, a senior communication and information ministry official said on Thursday.
Starlink’s network of low Earth orbit satellites can provide internet to remote locations or areas that have had normal communications infrastructure disabled.
Indonesia is a vast archipelago of more than 17,000 islands, and Jakarta is seeking to connect millions more of its population who are not hooked up to reliable internet services.
Usman Kansong, a senior official at the communication and information ministry, said Starlink had been given approval to operate in Indonesia.
“PT Starlink Service Indonesia has been issued business licences for telecommunication operations … namely a business licence for VSAT (Very Small Aperture Terminal) closed fixed networks and an ISP (internet service provider) business permit,” he said.