Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite system is about to change the Internet landscape in a country considered to have one of the worst Internet connections in the world.
The Philippines may be home to millions of people who understand social media, but the quality of Internet services in the country has remained terrible over the years. As noted in a VICE report, the philippines have one of the slowest internet speeds in the world, ranking 100th globally.
The Southeast Asian country is also famous for having the most expensive internet services, with a 2020 Digital Quality of Life Index ranking the Philippines 82nd in terms of internet accessibility among 85 countries. The poor quality of the Internet in the country is due to several factors, one of which involves an ISP duopoly that locals consider equally inadequate and expensive.
This, at least, until Starlink comes to the country. In a recent statement, Converge Information and Communications Technology Solutions Inc, one of the smallest Internet service providers that has emerged in recent years as an alternative to the country’s two major ISPs, announced that it had conducted several conversations with SpaceX to bring Starlink to the Philippines.
Speaking with local news agency ANC, Converge co-founder and CEO, Dennis Anthony Uy, commented that his company is already in communication with SpaceX. When asked if a business is really progressing, Uy said “it is ready”. “We continue to look for new technologies to bring high-speed Internet services to Filipinos, which includes SpaceX,” said the CEO.
Although it is a relatively small country in the Southeast Asia region, the Philippines can be a good test of Elon Musk’s vision of a global satellite internet system. After all, the Philippines is made up of more than 7,000 islands, some of which remain extremely remote today. One such place, a small village called Palauan, actually became the recipient of a Tesla Powerpack installation, which ended up providing residents with stable renewable energy.
SpaceX’s Starlink is only in its beta phase, and its 1,000 orbiting satellites are only a fraction of the system’s intended size. Despite this, Starlink users have already shared some positive experiences with the satellite-based system, with some noting that they are already experiencing download speeds of up to 400 Mbps after a recent update.
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