Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite system is ready to change the internet landscape in a nation considered to have one of the worst internet connections in the world.
The Philippines might be home to a great many social media-savvy individuals, however, the quality of internet services in the nation has stayed dreary throughout the years. As indicated in a VICE report, the Philippines brags some of the slowest internet speeds across the globe, positioning 100th all around the world.
The Southeast Asian country is additionally famous for having the most costly internet services, with a 2020 Digital Quality of Life Index ranking the Philippines as 82nd in terms of internet affordability out of 85 nations. The country’s dismal internet quality is because of a few factors, one of which includes an ISP duopoly that local people consider similarly deficient and costly.
That is, at least, until Starlink goes to the country. In a new statement, Converge Information and Communications Technology Solutions Inc, one of the more modest internet service providers that have arisen in recent years as an option in contrast to the country’s two leading ISPs, declared that it had directed a few talks with SpaceX to carry Starlink to the Philippines.
Talking with local news agency ANC, Converge co-founder and CEO Dennis Anthony Uy commented that his organization is now in correspondence with SpaceX. At the point when inquired as to whether a deal is surely advancing, Uy noticed that “It’s on.” “We continue to look for new technologies to bring high-speed internet service to Filipinos, which is including SpaceX,” the CEO said.
While a moderately small country in the Southeast Asian region, the Philippines could be a decent testbed for Elon Musk’s vision of a global satellite internet system. The Philippines, all things considered, includes more than 7,000 islands, some of which remain very remote until the present time.
One of these places, a small village called Palauan, really became the recipient of a Tesla Powerpack installation, which ended up providing occupants with stable renewable energy.
SpaceX’s Starlink is just in its beta stage, and its 1,000 satellites in orbit are only a small portion of the system’s expected size. Regardless of this, Starlink clients have effectively shared some positive experiences with the satellite-based system, with some notice that they are as of now encountering download velocities of up to 400 Mbps after a new update.