The idea of Starlink, SpaceX’s internet access beamed down from space, is quite an interesting one. We know for sure that the service will be launching in South Africa at some point, but there’s first the matter of coverage to sort out.
Well, that problem might just about to over. Starlink company president Gwynne Shotwel said earlier this week that global coverage could be in place by September this year. That’s… faster than we were expecting.
Starlink out of reach? Nah
Shotwel said, reports Reuters, “We’ve successfully deployed 1,800 or so satellites and once all those satellites reach their operational orbit, we will have continuous global coverage, so that should be like September timeframe.” But there’s a catch.
Though the globe might be blanketed by internet-spreading satellites, there’s still regulatory approval to go through in every country on the planet that wants to play. Starlink will have to be approved as a telecoms provider before it can start service customers.
While the service is only available in a few countries right now, South Africa is on the list of those countries where Starlink has registered to act as a subsidiary. Other countries on that list include: Austria, Australia, Argentina, Brazil, France, Chile, Colombia, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the Philippines and Spain, with Japan, India and the Caribbean also being in the company’s sights.
Source: Reuters