Elon Musk's internet satellite, Starlink, continues to expand its service range, including the Indonesian market. Starlink's presence in Indonesia caused a stir in mid-2022.
Starlink is an internet satellite constellation operated by SpaceX to provide a satellite-based internet communication system to various regions of the Earth.
Operating in low Earth orbit, known as Low Earth Orbit (LEO), is often a broadband solution in rural areas or areas where there is no internet access due to the absence of optical fiber or base transceiver stations (BTS) in the area.
Starlink Satellite Officially Enters the Indonesian Market
The official information regarding Starlink's entry into Indonesian territory was revealed by the Minister of Communication and Informatics (Menkominfo) Johnny G. Plate (10/6). He conveyed, Starlink operates in Indonesia by collaborating with Telkomsat which is a subsidiary of Telkom.
The Minister of Communication and Information conveyed that the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (Kominfo) gave Special Non-Gestationary Satellite Orbit (NGSO) Landing Rights to them after fulfilling the requirements set by law.
Even though Starlink has entered Indonesia, its internet service is not for the general public, but for special networks it remains closed.
"Not internet services, but Starlink sells satellite capacity to Telkomsat for the purposes of backhaul services. Starlink has not given internet retail sales rights," said Johnny.
The Minister of Communication and Information emphasized that the anchoring rights are exclusive, only for Telkomsat and are used for the backhaul services of the Telkom Group.
Johnny explained that the issuance of the landing rights would allow Starlink to sell its satellite capacity to Telkomsat to meet the company's backhaul ribbon needs.
"For this reason, Telkomsat is building a gateway station - terrestrial component to receive satellite capacity services from Starlink," he said.
Starlink Internet Service is Not for the Public
Meanwhile, the closed fixed network served by Starlink in Indonesia, namely network operations that provide networks for lease. In this context, Telkomsat leases Elon Musk's satellite capacity which will later be leased back to Telkomsat customers.
According to IndoTelko Forum Founder Doni Ismanto, the collaboration between Starlink and Telkomsat is Business to Business (B2B), which later Telkomsat will also carry out a similar scheme to its users.
"More for B2B, closed fixed networks are the customers, not retail. Not for person A, person B, or to homes, but B2B for the corporate segment," said Doni.
"For example, Telkomsat has bank customers in a province, where there is no cellular BTS network, but it requires an internet connection, so the link from Starlink that Telkomsat rented is to provide a network in that area. If we use a device, what appears on the screen is not Starlink, but from Telkomsat, it's like that," he said.
Doni said, the Starlink cooperation which in fact is a global company must work together with local partners. And, Kominfo grants landing rights if it complies with applicable regulations.
"If you don't cooperate with local partners, it's dangerous, just like what happened abroad. Meanwhile, by working with local partners, the government shows the representation of the state by being able to collect taxes or other obligations through its partners," said Doni.
Telkom Strategy After Cooperation with Starlink
Telkom views that the collaboration between Telkomsat and SpaceX which has been and is being built to run the Starlink service is a strategic step. This is in accordance with the state-owned company's travel plan in accelerating the development of infrastructure and smart digital platforms that are sustainable, economical and accessible to all people.
"With the Starlink anchoring rights, we hope that Telkom Group can continue to accelerate the creation of Indonesia's digital environment and society, because we believe that digitalization will make Indonesia better in the future," said Telkomsat Main Director Lukman Hakim Abd Rauf.
With Indonesia's challenging geographical conditions for an equal distribution program for fiber optic network development throughout Indonesia, Starlink is considered the right solution to fill backhaul network needs in areas not yet reached by fiber optics until a more permanent solution is available.
Starlink is a service based on the SpaceX Non-Geostationary Satellite constellation system with a low orbit (LEO / Low Earth Orbit) with an altitude of 500-1,400 km which is capable of providing services with low latency, high throughput and is supported by easily installed and portable ground station devices.