A ministry official in charge of communication and information announced on Thursday that Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite company had been awarded business licenses to operate in Indonesia.
Internet access is possible in rural areas or in places where regular communications equipment has been blocked thanks to Starlink’s network of low-Earth orbit satellites.
Jakarta is working to link the millions of people who live in Indonesia’s enormous archipelago of more than 17,000 islands who do not currently have access to dependable internet services.
Starlink has received license to operate in Indonesia, according to Usman Kansong, a senior official at the ministry of communication and information.
“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 stated.
Usman, the director general of communications and public communication for the ministry, stated that the company now “has the right to operate in providing telecommunication services” throughout the archipelago nation.
According to officials, the company’s services will be tested this month in Nusantara, the newly constructed capital of Borneo, which is scheduled to open in August. After that, it will be launched at a later time.
Large portions of Jakarta, which is congested with traffic, may be under water by 2050 as a result of rising sea levels and ground subsidence, according to some researchers, which is why the Indonesian government is relocating the capital.
As of 2022, the World Bank estimates that just two thirds of Indonesia’s population of over 270 million had internet connection.
Malaysia and the Philippines are two countries in Southeast Asia where Starlink is already accessible.