SpaceX launches Starlink in PHL

By Lorenz S. Marasigan @lorenzmarasigan

Elon Musk’s SpaceX officially launched its low earth orbit (leo) satellite internet service Starlink in the Philippines on Wednesday.

in a Twitter post that was retweeted by the a merican billionaire Musk, SpaceX said: “Starlink is now available in the Philippines.” on its official website, the Philippines is now highlighted as one of the countries where Starlink’s satellite internet services are now available. according to the website, a Starlink account costs some P34,720 to start: P29,320 for the hardware, P2,7000 as a deposit, and another P2,700 in monthly service fees. The listed prices are much cheaper than the fees announced by SpaceX Senior Manager r eb ecca Hunter in July 2022. She said the prices of Starlink services for the Philippines are expected to reach $599 (or about P33,000) for the hardware and $99 (or about P5,459) for the monthly service fees.

Starlink appears to be available throughout the country, as the BusinessMirror tried to input farflung locations such as Batanes and Jolo, Sulu.

Starlink is backed by the Sy Family’s Data l a ke inc., the first Starlink integrator in the country and in Southeast a sia.

The Department of information and Communications Technology declined to comment on the announcement.

The national Telecommunications Commission approved Starlink internet Services Philippines inc.’s registration as a Value-added Service (Va S) provider last year.

Starlink is expected to cover villages in urban and suburban areas and rural areas that remain unserved or undeserved with internet access services. The service is expected to bring cost-effective internet access to these areas.