The Telecommunication Commission of Solomon Islands (TCSI) issued a Class License to Starlink Thursday to operate in Solomon Islands.
TCSI Commissioner, Calvin Ziru confirmed this after signing a Memorandum of Understanding with one of the Starlink, Directors Ryan Goodnight who is responsible for Starlink licensing globally.
He said Starlink will be operating in the country through its locally incorporated company, Starlink Solomon Islands Limited under the supervision of its parent company Starlink in the United States.
“Starlink Solomon Islands Limited Class License will allow them to engage in our telecommunication services in the Solomon Island, we are one of the countries in the south pacific that have issued and granted Starlink an operating license.”
Ziru explains, discussions on issuing Starlink an operating license started two years ago.
He said the government and stakeholders in the country’s communication field were made aware of Starlink’s partnership through the discussions and consultations conducted by TCSI.
“We have meet with the Acting Prime Minister and Minister of Communication Hon Fredrick Kologeto, they are fully aware of the process, intentions to formally issue a class license to Starlink.
We’ve also had discussion with other ISP operators in the country and they’ve contributed to the discussion around the impacts of Starlink’s operations,” he said.
Ziru said a lot of the concerns raised during their discussion was on the effect of Starlink’s entry into the local market and how this will impact Our Telekom and Be-mobile operations.
“The two main telecommunication providers in the country have raised their concerns on the new player on the market, however it is clearly seen that Starlink services will not only make internet services more affordable for Solomon Islanders but will also compliment the services the major operators provide.”
Ziru clarifies with the high number of illegal Starlink units brought into the country, Starlink has taken the position to turn off connections to the Solomon Islands.
He said the license issued today has now enabled current users of Starlink to switch to their service.
“The bringing in of the equipment is a concern to a lot of the regulators especially around the legality of it and so the demand for Starlink to turn off those units, they had to work on that over the last couple of months and so when they do switch it off and countries give them license then they develop systems for that country to launch again,” he explained.
Ziru adds for Solomon Island, because of the ongoing discussion in the past two years with Starlink, they made sure to meet all TCSI requirements.
“From meeting our requirements, they have gone ahead and registered the company locally with the foreign investment board and ensuring they have a legitimate presence in Solomon Islands, all this has enabled them to switch on Solomon Islands connection within the next couple of days.”
The Telecommunications Commission Solomon Islands (TCSI) is an independent expert statutory authority, charged with the economic and technical management of the telecommunications sector in Solomon Islands..