As Malaysia expects Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite broadband service, Indonesia could get more with Tesla

Elon Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) is expected to launch its satellite broadband service in Malaysia by 2023, after launching in the Philippines, its first Southeast Asian presence, before the current year’s end. Starlink, intended to offer high-speed and low latency internet almost anywhere in the world, is presently available in 32 countries around the world, covering essentially North America, Europe, New Zealand, and selected areas of South America and Australia.

In a May 13 tweet, Starlink shared a map that shows the countries where it is available to ship immediately and as shown, most countries in Europe are marked as available. It implies that the equipment expected to get bandwidth through the group of satellites put into Earth’s orbit by Starlink is available to quickly send to these countries.

Be that as it may, selected Southeast Asia nations like Malaysia, Laos, Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, and even Bangladesh and another half of Australia are demonstrated to be “Starting in 2023”. To top it off, even before the service is officially available, its website has started permitting customers to reserve their Starlink by placing a deposit of US$99 (about RM435) as of writing time.

Notwithstanding, it referenced that availability is dependent upon regulatory approval and the orders will be satisfied on a first-come, first-served basis. Even though Starlink will unavoidably work in regions within its satellite coverage, for them to offer commercial services in Malaysia, it will in any case require a Network Facility or Service Provider license (NFP/NSP) from the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC).

Now, neither Starlink nor SpaceX is listed on MCMC’s licenses register, which essentially implies Starlink presently can’t seem to get the necessary approvals from local regulators. Starlink, through its satellite, can give download speeds between 100 to 200Mbps with latency as low as 20ms in many locations. The low ping is made conceivable with Starlink’s low earth orbit (LEO) satellites which spin at a much lower altitude contrasted with geostationary satellites.

In comparison, the local satellite broadband CONNECTme NOW satellite service by Measat which gives 100 percent coverage in Malaysia, gives a download speed of up to 30Mbps with a high ping of 500ms. For context, the CONNECTme NOW is a high-speed WiFi hotspot service appropriate for public use in the underserved or unserved regions in Malaysia.

With CONNECTme NOW, Measat, Malaysian communications satellite operator, plans to connect 10,000 sites in the next three years to serve two million people in remote regions that right now have no or limited access to high-speed broadband Internet. Until now, Measat has carried out more than 3,000 sites nationwide, with a larger part in remote areas of East Malaysia.

Somewhere else in Southeast Asia, the Philippines is expected to be the first country to launch the Starlink service, and be available in the fourth quarter of this current year is listed. The country’s Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez recently said that its business permit application is being processed while the organization scouts locations for its doors. It is likewise announced that Space X is setting up a completely owned subsidiary in the country and is intending to deploy three gateways in the first phase of the launch.

More than 2,200 Starlink satellites are presently in orbit and working, as per an analysis by Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist who tracks spaceflight activity. That is about half of SpaceX’s planned first-generation network of 4,408 Starlink satellites. SpaceX, established and led by Elon Musk, has signaled it eventually plans to launch upwards of 42,000 satellites.

From Starlink satellite to Tesla

While Malaysia becomes amped up for Starlink, the real winner would be Indonesia should a potential investment opportunity by Tesla gets moving. Indonesian President Joko Widodo met Tesla’s Chief Executive Elon Musk in Texas to examine likely investments and technology, Indonesia’s government said in a statement, as indicated by a report.

Indonesia authorities stated that the meeting between Musk and Widodo came after a round of working-level discussions on a potential investment in Indonesia’s nickel industry and supply of batteries for electric vehicles. While Tesla had no immediate comment, Indonesia has been attempting to protect a deal with Tesla on battery investment and potentially for Musk’s SpaceX aerospace organization for years.

As one of the fastest growing economies in the world, Indonesia has previously had a few other large investments in EV battery production declared before also. The country is expected to be a major hub for EV production in the region with different carmakers likewise hoping to set up manufacturing plants in the future.

Indonesia likewise has the world’s biggest nickel reserves, and the President is quick to develop a nickel-based EV industry at home, from making nickel metal to creating battery components and assembling electric vehicles.