In a major move to expand and fortify its broadband offerings, fiber broadband firm Converge ICT Solutions has entered into a distributorship agreement with satellite Internet provider Starlink while at the same time signing up IP communications company Ribbon Communications to turbo-charge its broadband network.
Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) secretary Cristina A. Roque met with SpaceX executives in Hawthorne, California where they discussed expanding satellite broadband connectivity across the country as well as other initiatives in space technology.
Comclark, the Pampanga-based technology firm owned by emerging tycoon Dennis Anthony Uy, signed on Thursday, July 18, an agreement with tech company Data Lake to expand the coverage of Starlink satellite broadband in the country.
The deployment uses Starlink LEO satellites for Internet connectivity with a focus on public education and local governance, where students, teachers and the local government office will have free Internet connectivity for six months.
Starlink, the satellite-based Internet service of SpaceX, will become part of the mix of broadband sources that the government will tap to deliver the free WiFi program to the public.
Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) secretary Ivan John E. Uy made a glowing endorsement of the Starlink satellite broadband service during a joint press briefing with US tech firm SpaceX on Wednesday, July 27, at the Manila Hotel.
The Philippines is set to be the first country in Southeast Asia to avail the services of Starlink broadband service which provides a low-Earth orbit satellite system designed to deliver broadband Internet connectivity with speeds between 100 to 200 Megabits per second (Mbps).
SpaceX is currently establishing a local Filipino entity that will be their wholly-owned subsidiary and is targeting to deploy three gateways in the first phase of their launch.
The Philippine government had a series of follow-up online meetings with the company, immediately following the Senate ratification of the proposed amendments to the Public Service Act (PSA), allowing full foreign ownership for satellite Internet services in the country and not requiring legislative franchise for public services.
