Bangladesh has greenlighted Elon Musk's satellite internet service Starlink, which will begin a trial run on April 9 and aims to transform communications, the officials from the South Asian nation announced Sunday.
Starlink, which is a subsidiary of SpaceX, will be available for commercial use within the next three months, they said.
The interim government in Dhaka directed the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) on March 29 to make it mandatory for foreign companies to register with the regulatory body before operating in the South Asian country.
"Starlink received approval on March 29 in light of the promise we made to them to operate the service within 90 days," BIDA Executive Chairperson Chowdhury Ashik Mahmud Bin Harun said at a news conference to brief the media about the Bangladesh Investment Summit, which begins on Monday in the capital of Dhaka.
A month ago, Bangladeshi interim government head Muhammad Yunus held an online discussion about broad collaboration with Musk.
Yunus later directed his office to complete the necessary steps to officially launch the service within three months.
The service will be trialed on April 9 at the investment summit venue, and the summit will be live-streamed via Starlink's internet, Harun said.
The four-day summit will bring together over 550 foreign investors from 50 countries and 2,500 local participants.
The official said Starlink plans to apply for the Non-Geostationary Orbit (NGSO) license required for operation on Sunday.
If the application is submitted in accordance with the rules, approval will be granted. He added that this would meet all of the requirements of the business-run procedure.
According to Yunus' office, the arrival of Starlink in Bangladesh will make high-speed internet service more accessible in remote areas, bridging the internet service gap between villages and cities and transforming communication.
