Technology Desk:
There is no chance of national security being disrupted due to Starlink, said Faiz Ahmed Tayyab, Special Assistant to the Principal Advisor in charge of the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology. He made this statement at a press conference on the official launch of Starlink in Bangladesh at the Foreign Service Academy on Bailey Road in the capital on Tuesday.
Explaining whether national sovereignty will be disrupted through Starlink, Faiz Ahmed said, “Starlink will have a local gateway. Its commercial test run and ground test are ongoing. The Starlink company has been given 90 days to complete these activities, of which ten days have passed.”
Faiz Ahmed Tayyab said, “Once (this time) passes, they will have to use the local gateway as a mandatory feature. As a result, there is no chance of national security being disrupted. Besides, there are rates, VAT, and taxes for the device, so they will take NOC for the device.’
It was said in the press conference that Starlink has started its journey in Bangladesh, which highlights the success. First of all, 90 days ago, there was no NGSO (Non-Geostationary Orbit) license in Bangladesh. Within these 90 days, Bangladesh has prepared NGSO guidelines with record speed and an operator satellite internet operator has applied in favor of it and after processing that application, it has been able to start its journey commercially within 4 months. The issuance of such a telecommunications license in the history of Bangladesh is the first and unique event in history.
Regarding whether the permission to use Starlink will have any impact in the ongoing China-US trade conflict, the Special Assistant to the Chief Advisor said, ‘Bangladesh wants to ensure the use of the world’s most advanced technology in terms of communication technology. Chinese technology is being used to establish the latest network and backbone in 4-5G technology in Bangladesh.’
He further said that in addition, various projects are being implemented under BTCL, Teletalk with Chinese funding and through engineers. Many Chinese companies are also working as vendors for mobile companies in Bangladesh. He said, ‘We want Chinese or American businessmen to be able to freely and openly do business here while protecting national interests. If the Chinese company GW wants to come, they will also get the same benefits.’
It was informed at the press conference that like Starlink, Amazon Kuiper, Telesat, Satellite and OneWeb are interested in coming to Bangladesh. If these companies do business in Bangladesh, the government is ready to provide them with policy benefits like Starlink.
Regarding the price of Starlink, Faiz Ahmed Tayyab said, ‘We have analyzed the regional price (the price of Starlink internet service in different countries in this region) and we saw that the price of Starlink in Bangladesh is the lowest compared to the regional price. Even less than Sri Lanka, Thailand, Thailand. We have kept it so that they are within the reach of the common man.’
He also said, ‘Since it will be shared (it will be possible to share), the price will be higher for a single person who buys, who will bear the expenses, but since there is no limit on sharing, the price will come down for multiple sharing.’
Regardless, from Tuesday, Starlink has started its journey with two packages. One is Starlink Residence, the other is Residence Lite. The monthly cost of the first is 6000 taka, the other is 4200 taka. However, there will be a one-time cost of 47 thousand taka for the setup equipment. There is no speed and data limit here. The user can use unlimited data with a speed of up to 300 Mbps (megabits per second).
