Elon Musk company okayed to pilot Starlink satellite internet service in Vietnam

Vietnam has allowed the U.S.'s SpaceX to pilot Starlink low-orbit satellite internet service in the country on a pilot basis until January 1, 2031.

Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Chi Dung has signed a prime ministerial decision allowing SpaceX's "controlled pilot deployment" of telecom services using low-orbit satellite technology without any limit on foreign ownership.

Specifically, SpaceX is allowed to conduct a controlled pilot investment in telecom service with network infrastructure - a type of satellite telecom network using low-orbit satellite technology in Vietnam. The pilot will be carried out on the principle of ensuring national defense and security.

The pilot service will be carried out within five years from the date of licence issuance and end before January 1, 2031.

The decision also states that the company must commit to ensuring compliance with the requirements and conditions. These include requirements on types of service, scope of deployment, maximum number of subscribers, frequency of use, and especially national defense and security.

The types of services to be deployed on a pilot basis include fixed satellite services (internet access services, private leased line services for mobile receiving and transmitting stations), mobile satellite services (internet access services at sea and internet access services on airplanes).

The maximum number of subscribers is 600,000, including the total number of telecom service subscribers of enterprises established in Vietnam and of telecom companies reselling services of companies established in Vietnam.

The Prime Minister assigned the Ministry of Science and Technology to coordinate with the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Public Security to develop a mechanism to monitor compliance with the law, requirements and conditions for pilot implementation.

Previously, in September last year, Tim Hughes, senior vice president for global business and government affairs at SpaceX, had met Prime Minister Chinh in Hanoi, where he'd affirmed that his company was ready to invest and provide its Starlink satellite internet services in the country.

SpaceX, a provider of spacecraft, satellite launch services, and satellite communications, plans to invest up to $1.5 billion in Vietnam, according to the Vietnamese government's news portal.