Starlink Official Date To Operate In Pakistan Revealed

Starlink's official date to launch in Pakistan has been revealed. After PM approval to provide NOC to Elon Musk's Starlink to launch in Pakistan, the pace to grant other licenses to Starlink in Pakistan has increased. Both the regulatory body of the Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) has already given an NOC to Starlink to operate in Pakistan.

According to ProPakistani, PTA said that now the next step is to grant a license to Starlink. PTA said that it would take around 6 months for Starlink to operate in Pakistan, and it will be fully operational in Pakistan. Starlink internet services are based on LEO (low earth orbit) satellites. Moreover, Starlink will have to pay USD 640,000 in license fees in Pakistan to operate. Moreover, there would be a meeting conducted to grant a license to Starlink after some weeks so that Starlink is fully operational in Pakistan within a 6-month time frame.

It is expected that Starlink prices in Pakistan would be cheaper than in Europe and North America; otherwise, it will be a rare product, and it will not widely spread like the government of Pakistan is hoping it would because most of the consumers in Pakistan cannot afford a local high-speed broadband internet, let alone a high-priced Starlink. It would require a Netflix business model to operate in Pakistan and to widely spread the Starlink to the maximum number of people in Pakistan. 

The Ministry of IT has high hopes for Elon Musk's Starlink that it would create a good and healthy competition between internet services. Moreover, it would also reduce the internet issues that Pakistan faces, like internet shutdown and speed issues, which is the reason why Pakistan is ranked lowest for internet speed and internet quality. However, it will all depend on the prices that are locally set by Starlink when they are operational in Pakistan. If the prices are too high, then it would not be adopted in Pakistan.