{"id":148667,"date":"2025-03-23T16:36:51","date_gmt":"2025-03-23T23:36:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=148667"},"modified":"2025-03-23T16:36:51","modified_gmt":"2025-03-23T23:36:51","slug":"starlink-on-hold-until-national-security-concerns-are-addressed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2025\/03\/23\/starlink-on-hold-until-national-security-concerns-are-addressed\/","title":{"rendered":"Starlink on hold until national security concerns are addressed"},"content":{"rendered":"

KELUM BANDARA\u00a0<\/a> Courtesy The Daily Mirror<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n
    \n
  • New government wouldn’t authorize services without right for data interception ensured<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • There may be instances in which Starlink satellite communication services being used for any unlawful act by some individuals<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Discussion is still at preliminary stage<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Defence Ministry and TRCSL involved in discussions with Starlink<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    Colombo, March 24 (Daily Mirror) – Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite broadband services will be on hold in Sri Lanka until it guarantees the right for the government agencies to secure data or communication details in case of issues related to national security, Daily Mirror learns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka, the telecommunications regulator. issued a licence to Elon Musk’s Starlink, the satellite unit of SpaceX, to provide the country with satellite broadband services, during the time of the last government in 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Sri Lanka’s parliament also passed a new telecommunications bill at that time. It was done in the form of an amendment to the relavent law for the first time in 28 years. It paved the way for Starlink to enter the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Musk’s Starlink approached Sri Lanka in March, 2024 with a proposal to set up operations. Under the current government, the TRCSL also approved the tariff plans for \u2018Starlink\u2019 satellite broadband services to be implemented through \u2018Starlink\u2019 Lanka (Private) Ltd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    TRCSL has granted approval for five \u2018Starlink\u2019 packages ranging from Rs. 9,200 per month to Rs. 1.8 million per month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Asked about the current status, Deputy Minister of Information Technology Eranga Weeraratne told Daily Mirror that the services could be operational only after Starlink assures right for legal interception of data or access to communication details in the event of a legal requirement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    “There were no provisions for this facility guaranteed when the licence was issued originally,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    “There may be instances in which Starlink satellite communication services being used for any unlawful act by some individuals. Then, the Sri Lankan security apparatus should have the right to obtain data related to such communication for legal action,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    He said the new government wouldn’t authorize the services without right for data interception ensured. Discussion is still at the preliminary stage. The Defence Ministry and TRCSL are involved in discussions with Starlink, according to him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    KELUM BANDARA\u00a0 Courtesy The Daily Mirror Colombo, March 24 (Daily Mirror) – Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite broadband services will be on hold in Sri Lanka until it guarantees the right for the government agencies to secure data or communication details in case of issues related to national security, Daily Mirror learns. The Telecommunications Regulatory Commission […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[158],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-148667","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148667","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=148667"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148667\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=148667"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=148667"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=148667"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}