The Philippines could soon become the first country in Southeast Asia to use satellite internet services.
This developed after the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) approved the registration of Starlink Internet Services Philippines, a unit of tech billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX, as a value-added service (VAS) provider in the country.
Starlink offers high-speed, low-latency satellite internet services with maximum download speeds of 200 Mbps. Once its rollout has been finalized, the company is expected to provide this same service to the country. The Philippines will also be the first country in Southeast Asia to benefit from such technology.
The approval of its VAS registration will allow Starlink to directly access satellite systems, as well as build and operate broadband facilities. They can then use these facilities to offer connectivity to the public. Once operational, Starlink could soon be providing breakthrough internet services to Filipinos through its Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite network constellation composed of over 1,600 satellites.
An important milestone
In a statement, a group of strategic players in the digital finance space operating in the Philippines said that the government’s approval of Starlink is a step in the right direction as it would enable more Filipinos to onboard digital finance platforms.
“Starlink’s entry to the Philippines is an important milestone for inclusive digital finance acceleration in the country,” said Lito Villanueva, founding chairman of FinTech Alliance.PH and executive vice president of Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC).
“With the prospect of upgrading our internet connection speeds and improving our satellite broadband services, the alliance recognizes Starlink’s contribution in enabling a digital environment that will allow greater financial inclusion for the unbanked and the underserved. This will make digital finance services running on the cloud even more accessible to Filipinos, especially those in geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas,” he added.
FinTech Alliance.PH is considered the premier thought leader and largest organization of Finance Technology firms in the country today. It is comprised of startups and unicorns that contribute over 90% of digital-initiated transactions volume.