Elon Musk’s Starlink to launch broadband service in PHL in Q1

BILLIONAIRE Elon Musk’s Starlink and its local partner Data Lake announced Friday the commercial launch of broadband service in the Philippines within the first quarter of the year.

“We are excited to finally introduce Starlink to the Philippine market by Q1 2023. The high speed, low latency broadband Internet service through the use of satellites will be game changing in connecting our 7,640 islands to the rest of the world. This will also be in line with President (Ferdinand R.) Marcos (Jr.’s) push for greater digitization,” said Data Lake Vice Chairman and CEO Anthony Almeda, who is also the president of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP).

Data Lake, the Philippine-based data company of Henry Sy Jr. and Almeda and the first Starlink integrator in the country, recently met with the President to discuss the expedited entry of Starlink as a satellite internet provider.

Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez, Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Secretary Ivan John Uy, and Starlink representative Nick Galano were present to support the talks, in response to the US Government’s direction to hasten its expansion. The move delays in the production and deployment of low earth orbit (LEO) satellites pushed back Starlink’s initial December 2022 entry to the first quarter of 2023.

Once established in the country, Starlink will be able to provide high-speed broadband internet to end-users, including remote and geographically isolated areas, as it uses satellites positioned in low-earth orbit (LEO) than the conventional and more costly underground fiber optic cables.

Starlink plans to offer its service to Philippine customers at an initial $599 per satellite unit and connectivity service at $99 per month, with a download speed of 200 Mbps.