Starlink gains less than 2,000 customers in 4 months

Five months have passed since the launch of the satellite-based internet service provider Starlink in Bangladesh.

As of September, the company had fewer than 2,000 customers in the country, with more than 1,000 of them being residential users.

Since the previous Awami League government, this company had been trying to enter the Bangladeshi market. Some experimental work was also carried out at that time. The company is owned by Elon Musk, one of the world’s top technology entrepreneurs.

After the mass uprising on 5 August last year that led to the fall of the Awami League government, the interim government came to power.

In March this year, chief adviser professor Muhammad Yunus instructed that Starlink should begin operations in Bangladesh within 90 days. Following this, Starlink officially launched its services in Bangladesh on 20 May.

According to data from the technology-based non-profit media outlet Rest of World, Starlink operates in more than 100 countries worldwide. In South Asia, Bangladesh is the first country where Starlink officially began its operations. The company is also present in over 20 African countries. Starlink launched in Kenya in July 2023, and by March this year, 20 months later, it had 17,066 customers. In contrast, in Nigeria, Starlink had more than 59,500 active customers in the first quarter of this year, having launched there in January 2023.

At its most recent monthly regular meeting, the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) discussed various issues, including Starlink’s customer numbers and operations.

According to BTRC sources, it was stated at the meeting on 27 October that, as of 30 September, Starlink had 1,862 customers in Bangladesh, of whom 1,251 were residential users.

Starlink has established two gateways in Kaliakair and one each in Jessore and Rajshahi. There are also plans to set up gateways in Syedpur, Cox’s Bazar, Sylhet, and Comilla. Currently, Starlink has obtained 80 Gbps bandwidth from the International Internet Gateway (IIG), of which 30 Gbps is being used.

Aminul Hakim, president of the Internet Service Providers Association of Bangladesh (ISPAB), told Prothom Alo, “Compared to the facilities Starlink has introduced, the number of customers is not high.”

One of the conditions of the Regulatory and Licensing Guidelines for Non-Geostationary Orbit (NGSO) was that lawful interception must be possible. All telecommunication service providers in the country are required to comply with this condition, and Starlink has also entered Bangladesh under this requirement.

At BTRC’s latest commission meeting, it was noted that the tool Starlink has provided to the National Telecommunication Monitoring Centre (NTMC) to comply with the lawful interception rules is not functioning as expected. Discussions between NTMC and Starlink are ongoing regarding the issue.

To ensure and monitor that Starlink is providing internet services to Bangladeshi customers through its installed earth stations and local IIG operators, BTRC requested last month that Starlink supply the monitoring tool. In response, Starlink informed BTRC that it could provide the same tool as given to NTMC. However, BTRC stated that both NTMC and the commission believe the tool is not fulfilling the intended monitoring purpose.

BTRC further noted that foreign (roaming) Starlink customers present in Bangladesh are not being served via the installed ground stationITs or PoPs in accordance with the guidelines, which Starlink needs to clarify.

Starlink also intends to use bandwidth from Bangladesh for neighbouring countries. In August, it wrote to BTRC seeking commercial approval to use International Private Leased Circuits (IPLC) and unfiltered IP (uncontrolled internet connection).

At the latest BTRC commission meeting, it was pointed out that commercial use of IPLC and providing services to foreign customers via Bangladeshi operators using unfiltered IP are not addressed in the existing guidelines.