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Sri Lanka to get Starlink satellite network facility providing low-cost internet

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By: Staff Writer

May 20, Colombo (LNW): Sri Lanka is to get a Starlink satellite network facility developed by the private spaceflight company SpaceX to provide low-cost internet to remote locations.

A Starlink satellite has a lifespan of approximately five years and island nation hopes to have this satellite in the orbit to deliver broadband internet capable of supporting streaming, online gaming, video calls and more.

Leveraging advanced satellites and user hardware coupled with the deep experience with both spacecraft and on-orbit operations, Starlink delivers high-speed, low-latency internet to users all over the world.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe met billionaire businessman Elon Musk and discussed launching the Starlink satellite internet service in Sri Lanka.

The President met Musk on the sidelines of the 10th World Water Forum High-Level Meeting in Indonesia.

The President’s media division said that the President expressed commitment to fast-track the application process to connect Sri Lanka with the global Starlink network.

According to foreign media, Musk was in Indonesia’s resort island of Bali on Sunday to launch the Starlink satellite internet service.

The billionaire head of Tesla and SpaceX and owner of social platform X arrived by private jet on the idyllic “island of the gods”, which is renowned for its tropical beaches, terraced rice paddies, mystical temples and colourful spiritual offerings.

Musk is also scheduled to participate in the 10th World Water Forum, which seeks to address global water and sanitation challenges.

Elon Musk traveled to Indonesia’s resort island of Bali on Sunday to launch Starlink satellite internet service in the world’s largest archipelago nation.

Wearing a green Batik shirt, Musk was greeted with a garland of flower petals at a community health clinic in Denpasar, the provincial capital of Bali, where he launched the Starlink service alongside Indonesian ministers.

Indonesia, a vast archipelago of 17,000 islands sprawled across three time zones with a population of more than 270 million, has been trying for years to secure deals with Musk’s Tesla on battery investment and for Musk’s SpaceX to provide fast internet for the country’s remote regions.

During the ceremony, Musk took a speed test of the Starlink internet service with several health workers in Indonesia’s remote regions, including in Aru, one of Indonesia’s unserved and outermost islands in Maluku province.

“This can make it really a lifesaver for remote medical clinics, and I think it could be a possibility for education as well,” Musk told reporters.

“If you can access the internet and then you can learn anything and you can also sell your business services worldwide. So, I think it’s going to be incredibly beneficial,” he said.

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