Elon Musk's Starlink initiative has been officially awarded a license to deliver satellite-based internet services to the Maldives.
The license was presented to Ryan Goodnight, Market Access Director at Starlink, during a ceremony held at the National Center for Information Technology (NCIT) on Thursday. The license was handed over by Technology Minister Aminath Shauna on behalf of the Maldives government.
At the ceremony, Minister Shauna highlighted that this achievement follows 1.5 years of collaborative effort, making Maldives the first South Asian country to launch Starlink services.
During the ceremony, Ryan expressed Starlink's readiness to introduce its advanced network services to the Maldives, emphasizing that the company considered the Maldives a very important market. He also outlined SpaceX’s plans to use its advanced satellites to provide high-speed, low-latency broadband internet across the globe.
SpaceX said their venture in the Maldives would not affect the revenue of existing internet service providers such as Ooredoo, DHIRAAGU, and Raajje Online.
Starlink provides Internet services by launching over 1,700 satellites into lower Earth orbit. The company, which already provides coverage to more than 60 countries, aims to launch mobile phone services this year. SpaceX began launching Starlink satellites into space in 2019.
SpaceX initiated its Starlink satellite launches in 2019. With over 1,700 satellites now launched into lower Earth orbit, the company already already caters to more than 60 countries. The company has plans to extend its services to include mobile phone connectivity later this year.
