SpaceX’s low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite internet Starlink is in talks with Pakistan authorities about introducing the service to the South Asian country.
Starlink representatives met with Pakistan’s Minister of Information Technology and Telecom Syed Amin-ul-Haque as well as IT Secretary Dr. Sohail Rajput on Tuesday, according to Dawn.
The delegation included Starlink Executives Middle East and Asia Director Ryan Goodnight and Global Site Acquisition Head Ben Macwilliam.
The delegation covered plans to launch Starlink across Pakistan, in addition to what investments into the country’s private sector might be available to Starlink.
Elon Musk SpaceX Starlink & Ministry of IT & Telecom Pakistan planned to Launch Starlink’s Satellite Broadband Internet across Pakistan. #SpaceX also showed interest in Space of Things & Internet of Things setup in Pakistan. #MOITT #SyedAminUlHaque #ElonMusk pic.twitter.com/nP0vZ0w0nk
— Ministry of IT & Telecom (@MoitOfficial) December 15, 2021
In the meeting, Dr. Sohail Rajput also referenced Pakistan’s 40,000 schools as well as other small and medium enterprises as reasons why Pakistan’s demand for high-speed internet was increasing, especially in the country’s education sector.
Starlink has been registered as a company officially in Pakistan and is expected to open an office down the road.
The office and service in Pakistan would mark Starlink’s first time operating in South Asia, and would also be facilitated by Pakistan’s Balanced Space Satellite Regime.
SpaceX has been launching Starlink satellites into orbit over the past couple of years and has been rapidly increasing the countries that its service is available in throughout much of 2021.
