Starlink is already available in Southeast Asia, Malaysia and the Philippines.
Denpasar:
Tech billionaire Elon Musk launched his Starlink service on the Indonesian resort island of Bali on Sunday, as the country looks to expand internet to its remote areas.
Millions of people in Indonesia, a vast archipelago of more than 17,000 islands, are currently without reliable internet services.
Musk, who was making his first visit to the Southeast Asian country, opened satellite services at a clinic in the Balinese capital Denpasar on Sunday afternoon.
He also signed an agreement on the health sector together with Indonesian Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin.
Musk and the officials also attended a presentation by employees of Indonesian community clinics in Bali and Maluku provinces on the acceleration of internet speeds after using Starlink.
The internet services were pilot tested in three healthcare institutions in the regions to input various data sets into the national system, such as those on vaccinations, child nutrition and diabetes.
“We’re very excited to bring connectivity to places that don’t have connectivity or, as you saw in the demonstration, have very low bandwidth connectivity,” Musk said at a news conference.
“So this could be a real lifesaver for remote medical clinics. And I think it can be transformative for education as well,” Musk added, wearing a green shirt made from traditional Balinese woven fabric called “endek.”
The Indonesian government is moving the capital from busy Jakarta, where researchers say large areas could be underwater by 2050 due to rising sea levels and land subsidence, to Nusantara.
After the trial, Starlink, which received a license to operate in Indonesia earlier this month, could be rolled out commercially across the archipelago.
Starlink is already available in Southeast Asia, Malaysia and the Philippines.
Using a network of satellites in low Earth orbit, Starlink can deliver internet to remote locations or areas where normal communications infrastructure is down.
According to Budi, in the initial implementation, the Indonesian government allocated a budget to enable Starlink’s services to 10,000 state-owned hospitals across the country.
However, he did not provide details on the amount, saying that despite a budget cap, the allocation is expected to be “sufficient to cover Starlink’s costs.”
Starlink’s services will be trialled this month in Indonesia’s new capital, Nusantara on the island of Borneo, which officials say will open in August.
According to the World Bank, about two-thirds of Indonesia’s approximately 270 million residents had access to the internet by 2022.
In addition to the launch of Starlink, Musk will speak at the World Water Forum held on the holiday island on Monday.
He will also meet President Joko Widodo during the event.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
