ISLAMABAD (The Thursday Times) — Six satellite internet companies, including Elon Musk’s Starlink, have registered in Pakistan, but none of them can offer services yet because their licences are waiting on security clearances from the interior ministry, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan has told a Senate committee.
In a report to the Senate standing committee, sent after a letter from its chairman, Rana Mahmood-ul-Hassan, the commission said four of the companies, Aether One, Flanavotics, Galaxy Space and SpaceP, had registered after the Pakistan Space Activities Regulatory Board was set up. Starlink and SpaceCell Pakistan have also registered as local companies.
Registration is only the first step. “Company registration does not allow businesses to offer satellite internet services,” the commission said.
The approvals chain: each company first needs a no-objection certificate from the space regulatory board. The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority can then issue a licence, but only after the interior ministry has completed security checks on the company’s foreign directors and shareholders. So far only SpaceP has submitted its no-objection certificate, the commission said, while security approvals for Starlink, Galaxy Space and SpaceCell Pakistan are still pending, leaving them unable to move ahead with licensing.
Satellite internet could bring connections to mountain valleys, deserts and villages that fibre and mobile networks have never reached. For now, there is no date for when any of the six will be allowed to switch on.
