A new player of international weight will enter to compete in the telecommunications market, and provide internet services for Colombian users. This is the satellite internet company Starlink, owned by the controversial businessman Elon Musk, who has just received an operating permit from the Ministry of Information and Communications Technologies.
The company of the richest man on the planet will aim to bring connectivity to the entire country, especially to areas of difficult access. In addition, it will be a key player in the implementation of 5G networks in the country.
“In our route to close the digital gap from all points of view, the entry of this new company into the country will mean a substantial improvement in the way in which the regions will be connected, because thanks to the satellite technology of actors such as Starlink it will expand the offer in the market, and thanks to the benefits established in the new regime, the money that the ICT Ministry stops receiving in terms of payments for spectrum use can be reinvested to improve the service to the end user”, said the ICT Minister, Carmen Ligia Valderrama Rojas.
The telecommunications market today in Colombia has players such as Claro, Movistar, Tigo, WOM, ETB and Avantel, among others. Recently, The Communications Regulation Commission reported that Tigo and Movistar are the fastest in mobile and fixed internet speedrespectively.
The authorization to Starlink was granted, as reported, under the Satellite Regime (established in Resolution 376 of 2022), which seeks to encourage the arrival of new actors in the Colombian market.
“The authorization of the use of the spectrum for satellite services by this company may be used to carry radio signals, television, cellular mobile phone networks, among others,” the Ministry said.
It is expected that, in the medium term, the arrival of new players such as Starlink will increase, and that companies that already operate with this technology in Colombia will modernize their services.
Starlink is owned by Elon Musk, the American billionaire behind other companies like Tesla and SpaceX. He has recently been immersed in a controversy over his proposal to buy the social network Twitterfrom which he gave up despite publicizing it widely.
