IT Minister Claims Talks Underway to Bring Starlink to Pakistan

Minister of State for IT and Telecommunication Shaza Fatima Khawaja on Thursday informed the Senate Standing Committee on IT and Telecom that talks were in full swing to bring Elon Musk’s Starlink services to end the issue of slow internet in Pakistan. IT Minister Shaza Fatima briefed the committee that while there were technical issues, she said the internet was only ever shut down due to security reasons. Shaza said the government was exploring ways to minimize the impact of such outages on the IT sector. She also mentioned that the government was in talks with Starlink to offer internet services in Pakistan. The minister didn’t provide much details on this development. The committee discussed the upcoming 5G spectrum auction scheduled for April 2025, which could help alleviate some of the infrastructure problems causing internet-related problems in the country. The IT Minister didn’t present any assurances or updates in this regard. It bears mentioning that Starlink has been actively pursuing the launch of its services in Pakistan, having registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) in December 2021 under the name “Starlink Internet Services Pakistan (Private) Ltd.” The Starlink website clearly shows that the company has fulfilled all requisites for launching the satellite-based internet service. It only needs regulatory approval. Shaza informed the National Assembly in August that Starlink’s license approval has been delayed due to its non-compliance with the technical and regulatory framework set by the government.