Elon Musk Brings Starlink To Philippines, Offers Broadband Network

JAKARTA - Elon Musk brought Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) to expand to the Philippines. The richest man in the world offers satellite broadband services for business and government purposes. This was revealed by his local partner on Thursday, October 27.

Data Lake Inc, a Philippines-based company partly owned by tycoon Henry Sy Jr, said it had signed a deal to become SpaceX's first Starlink partner in Southeast Asia.

"The Philippines is an island nation, and connecting our country to the wider world often requires extensive infrastructure," Data Lake Inc Chairman Anthony Almeda said in a statement.

The Philippines is made up of more than 7,600 islands, many of which are isolated and with mountainous terrain, making broadband coverage difficult for telecommunications companies. About 20 tropical storms also usually hit the country each year, often damaging infrastructure and cutting communication links between islands and provinces.

SpaceX's Starlink uses a network of thousands of satellites to provide internet access to remote areas or when communications are interrupted during a natural disaster.

Data from the World Bank shows, in the Philippines, only seven out of every 100 people have a fixed broadband subscription. The numbers lag behind regional peers such as Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand.

Earlier this month, the Philippine Ministry of Information and Communication Technology said Starlink's entry into the Philippine market was slated for 2023.