Deputy Minister of Digital Economy, Eranga Weerarathne, says that a pilot project on Starlink, the satellite internet service owned by billionaire businessman Elon Musk, has been launched.
Speaking to the media, Deputy Minister Weerarathne said 10 devices have been obtained for this purpose.
“We have facilitated the necessary regulations in this regard and have also provided the required license. The pilot project is being conducted with the initial roll-out of 10 Starlink devices to 10 customers,” he said.
Deputy Minister Weerarathne said that based on the findings, the ministry expects to launch the Starlink services in Sri Lanka by the end of this month.
“The customers will provide us with a dashboard for their experiment. This will be done in the next week or two. These findings will be submitted to the Government and the Ministry of Defence. After which, the Starlink internet service will be made available in Sri Lanka,” he said.
The Deputy Minister of Digital Economy further said that a request has been made from Starlink to establish an office in Sri Lanka, especially to handle customer complaints.
Stating that the introduction of Starlink will not affect other companies providing internet services, he said this was so, as not everyone will be able to afford the service cost.
Starlink received regulatory approval in August 2024, following an amendment to Sri Lanka’s telecommunications law to permit satellite-based internet services.
According to the company’s website, the residential package for Sri Lanka is priced at Rs. 15,000 per month, with an additional cost of Rs. 118,000 for the required hardware. The package offers unlimited satellite internet, though it is unclear whether taxes are included.
Starlink is operated by SpaceX and provides high-speed internet using thousands of low Earth orbit satellites. The service is especially useful in remote and rural areas where traditional fibre connections are unavailable. It is currently active in nearly 100 countries. (Newswire)