SpaceX satellites to initially cover northern Philippines, DICT says

Elon Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) will initially cover the northern area of the Philippines before rolling out into the rest of the country, an official of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) said Monday.

According to DICT Secretary Ivan John Enrile Uy, there may be a delay in the launch of SpaceX’s Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites network constellation Starlink in the country.

“So far mukhang coverage po nito is only in the northern part of the Philippines at hindi po umaabot sa middle at southern part of the Philippines where we badly need the satellite connectivity,” he said during the Laging Handa virtual briefing.

“Maaaring medyo matagalan ng konti ‘yung pag-avail nitong service until makapag-launch sila ng additional satellites that will cover central Philippines, as well as southern Philippines,” he added.

(So far it looks like the coverage will only be in the northern part of the Philippines and will not reach the middle and southern part of the country where we badly need satellite connectivity. There may be a delay in the availability of the service until they can launch additional satellites that will cover central and southern Philippines.)

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in March said preparations are already underway for the entry of SpaceX in the Philippines, touted to bring high-speed satellite broadband connectivity to far-flung areas.

Converge ICT Solutions Inc. last year said it is considering a partnership with SpaceX for high-speed internet services.

Starlink Internet Services Philippines Inc. — the wholly-owned Filipino subsidiary established by SpaceX — earlier this year secured the approval of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) as a value-added service (VAS) provider.

“Ang effect po nito is more on the scope of the coverage. Alam po natin na maraming areas sa Pilipinas ay hindi nako-cover ng mga telcos dahil sa tinatawag nating missionary routes,” Uy said.

(The effect this will have is more on the scope of the coverage. We know that a lot of areas in the Philippines are not covered by the telcos because of the missionary routes.)

Uy explained that missionary routes are areas where telecommunications firms do not usually set up facilities due to the low user base, making it unprofitable.

For his part, Converge Chief Executive Officer Dennis Anthony Uy last year said agreements with SpaceX could be made within 2022. —KBK, GMA News