Starlink launch delayed to middle of next year —DICT exec

The launch of Starlink Internet Services Philippines Inc.’s , a wholly-owned subsidiary of Elon Musk's Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX), commercial services in the country will be moved to the middle of 2023, according to an official of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT).

“The Starlink will be operational here in the Philippines by the middle of next year,” DICT Assistant Secretary Philip Varilla said during the Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines-MVP Group Infrastructure Forum in Pasay City Monday.

In July, Starlink announced it will launch its Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite internet services in the Philippines by December.

Starlink secured the approval of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) as a value-added service (VAS) provider in May.

The NTC said the Starlink service offers high-speed, low-latency satellite internet service with download speeds of between 100 megabits per second (Mbps) and 200 Mbps.

Using advanced satellites in a low orbit, the agency said Starlink would enable video calls, online gaming, streaming and other high-data activities that historically have not been possible with satellite internet.

Asked why Starlink is delaying the launch of its services in the country, Varilla said, “Basically I think it's because of the satellites that they are launching.”

“[Around] 4,400 satellites launching. It is very difficult to launch so many satellites. But they're saying that they can complete it and service the Philippines by that time,” the DICT official said.

Meanwhile, Varilla said the DICT intends to use Starlink’s technology to “connect geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas, those [which] are really far from our telecommunications infrastructure so that they will be connected to the internet.”

The Department of Trade and Industry earlier said the Philippines would be the first country in Southeast Asia to avail of the Starlink technology.—AOL, GMA News