Elon Musk's Starlink targets to fully cover PH by mid-2023

The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) said billionaire Elon Musk's satellite-based internet service provider Starlink may have full coverage of the Philippines by next year.

File photo: Starlink

DICT said that Starlink may cover the whole PH next year

In an interview with CNN Philippines, DICT Secretary Ivan John Uy said that while the company's satellites were initially for the northern hemisphere, Starlink has committed to bolster its coverage to 100 percent.

In my recent meeting with their representative here, they assured me that by middle of next year, they'll have full 100% coverage for the Philippines, Uy said.

Starlink is a division of American aerospace company SpaceX owned by Musk, which currently operates approximately 1,500 low-earth orbit satellites into space.

The DICT official reiterated that Starlink will roll out its services before the year ends, its first in Southeast Asia.

Earlier, the DICT said the government would use Starlink's network to reach isolated communities by early 2023. Uy said this will be done through the government's "Broadband ng Masa" program.

Although the new administration has yet to allot a budget for the Broadband ng Masa project, Uy said the department will tap the funds earmarked for the FREE WiFi program.

Once operational, SpaceX Government Affairs senior manager Rebecca Hunter said Starlink users may experience 100 to 200 Megabits per second (Mbps) download speed and around 30 to 40 Mbps upload speed with a latency of 20 milliseconds.

Source: CNN Philippines