Billionaire Elon Musk on Wednesday said its satellite internet services is now available in the Philippines.
“Available na ngayon ang Starlink sa Pilipinas,” SpaceX said in its official Twitter account.
Starlink Internet Services Philippines, Inc. (Starlink) , the Philippine unit of the spacecraft and rocket manufacturer SpaceX, previously secured the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) approval to roll out its satellite broadband services in the Philippines in December 2022.
Starlink’s VAS registration, essentially an authority to provide services beyond a telco’s core offers as short messaging or SMS as well as voice and data, allows Starlink to access directly satellite systems, build and operate broadband facilities and offer internet services.
Sought for comment, Anna Mae Lamentillo, undersecretary at the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) said, “We will have a formal event. We’ll inaugurate the first earth station.”
She did not provide any more details.
The company earlier said its router kit, a one-time equipment purchase, costs $599 (P33,000) while the monthly subscription fee would be $99 (P5,500) with no data caps.
The Philippines is seen as the first country in Southeast Asia to offer Starlink services noted for its high speed low latency satellite internet service with download speeds between 100 megabits per second to 200 Mbps.
Using advanced satellites in a low earth orbit, Starlink will enable video calls, online gaming, streaming and other high data activities that historically have not been possible with satellite internet.
