Internet kits on hold
AMERICAN broadband satellite service provider Starlink may have been issued a license to operate in Fiji but its services are not yet operational and the Telecommunications Authority of Fiji (TAF) will not issue import permits for Starlink kits to be brought into Fiji.
Not until it officially launches its services here, said TAF chairman David Eyre.
In an exclusive interview with The Fiji Times, Mr Eyre said just because Starlink is now licensed in Fiji, “it doesn’t necessarily mean that their service is up and running.”
“Part of the conditions of that license is setting up some specifics around that. For them (Starlink), it’s their backend process around being able to support delivery of kits to Fiji and one of those processes that impact them is this import permit process,” Mr Eyre said.
Starlink, he said, is required under its license to pay a revenue-based telecommunication levy as all other telecom companies do and TAF will track Starlink’s revenue in Fiji through the import permits issued for Starlink kits.
“The point we’re making is because the service hasn’t launched, there’s probably no reason to bring in the kits yet.
“What we’re saying is if there was a process to allow the kit in, you could probably take the kit but in theory you shouldn’t have a service associated with it because Starlink hasn’t necessarily offered a service in Fiji,” Mr Eyre said.
Recently, a frustrated consumer complained about his kit being held at Customs because TAF would not issue an import permit.
“Customs need the import license from TAF in order to release the equipment. TAF has put the issuing of import licenses for Starlink kits on hold. They told me that they issued a public notice on the hold of equipment but nowhere in the notice does it mention that they will not issue import licenses for Starlink kits,” he said.
Mr Eyre said TAF is working with Starlink on a way around that.
“If they had launched the service by now, we wouldn’t be having this conversation around the import permit issue. For us, the ability to monitor services in Fiji requires a kit, which by default requires an import permit and right now, because the service isn’t active, that’s sort of probably the mechanism that we’re falling back to. To say right, we can probably hold your kit in some way and then when the service launches then you can come and collect it.”