Elon Musk's SpaceX is all set to officially enter the Philippines as it gains approval from the country's telecom regulator for the registration of Starlink Internet Services. By doing this, Philippines has become the first Southeast Asian country to avail services from Starlink, as per the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).
The National Telecommunication Commissions (NTC) released a statement on Friday on the approval of the internet service as a Value Added Service (VAS) provider because the country was struggling with low speed internet.
According to the Philippine media, the VAS registration was approved within 30 minutes of the application submission. The NTC further mentioned in the statement that "the swift processing" was done for an "immediate roll out" of the service.
A unit of SpaceX, the Starlink satellite system operates more than 1,500 Low-Earth orbit satellites (LEO). Through the VAS registration, the NTC believes the company could gain a direct access to the satellite systems and easily build and manage broadband facilities.
NTC Commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba officially welcomed the company in Philippines on behalf of the agency and mentioned that the introduction of Starlink's internet services will be highly beneficial for the unserved and underserved regions in the country.
"The NTC is steadfast in helping ensure that roll-out of Starlink's internet access services will be done expeditiously and professionally," said the agency.
SpaceX counsel Bien Marquez, also thanked the agency for the quick approval of Starlink's VAS License and praised the government's concern towards connectivity issues in unserviced areas. He further added that this decision will also be extremely helpful in events of any natural disasters and calamities.
The agency explained that the Starlink service will allow for video calls, streaming as well as online gaming with download speed between 100 megabits per second (Mbps) to 200Mbps. The NTC officials believe that the registration will "pave the way" for the company to start offering internet access services to the Philippine market in the coming months.
