Ukraine to set up 10,000 more Starlink terminals as funding problems are ‘solved’ • InNewCL
Ukraine to set up 10,000 more Starlink terminals as funding problems are ‘solved’ • InNewCL
#Ukraine #set #Starlink #terminals #funding #problems #solved #InNewCL Welcome to InNewCL, here is the new story we have for you today:
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The thorny issue of how to pay for Ukraine’s now critical Starlink satellite internet has been resolved, at least temporarily, according to the country’s digital transformation minister Mykhailo Fedorov. It seems that some European Union countries have decided that it is in everyone’s interest to keep the country online while the Russian invasion continues.
In October it was revealed that apart from an initial cash injection to get Starlink terminals on the ground in Ukraine, no real agreement had been reached to pay SpaceX for the services it provided. At retail value, the approximately 22,000 terminals sent to Ukraine would cost tens of millions of dollars – although this is only an estimate of both the actual cost and the number of active terminals.
SpaceX sought funding from the US military, but ultimately chose to go ahead without it – although it was described as a charity drive at the time, it’s possible negotiations with other stakeholders were beginning to bear fruit.
Speaking to Bloomberg, Fedorov (who is also Deputy Prime Minister) stated that “as of now, all financial issues are resolved.”
He declined to be more specific, saying only that several EU countries had pledged support at least until spring. With winter coming and infrastructure already strained, funding decentralized internet access is one less thing for the war-torn country to worry about.
In fact, there is a new order for sending more than 10,000 terminals: “We received a commitment for another shipment, which will be used to stabilize the connection in critical situations,” Fedorov said. “There is no alternative to satellite connections.”
SpaceX recently expanded into the world of defense contractors with Starshield, but that’s more for US government contracts. Starlink terminals in Ukraine seem to come from the professional and consumer sides of the business.
