The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has granted Starlink permission to provide bandwidth from outside the country for 90 days. This decision follows Starlink’s request for a temporary waiver, as its 90-day deadline to launch services in Bangladesh would expire before a local gateway could be established.
BTRC Chairman Md Emdadul Bari confirmed that the waiver was granted because Starlink would be unable to meet the government’s target timeline for launching services with a local gateway. The temporary allowance will enable Starlink to operate while it works toward establishing its local infrastructure.
Earlier this year, in March, Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus instructed authorities to ensure that Starlink’s commercial services be launched within 90 days. According to Bangladesh’s satellite internet regulations, providers are required to route their internet traffic through local gateways and connect to the International Internet Gateway (IIG) for data transmission. It remains uncertain whether Starlink will be allowed to operate its commercial services without meeting these gateway requirements.
On April 29, the BTRC granted Starlink a license to operate satellite internet services in Bangladesh. Starlink had previously applied for this license under the “Licensing Guidelines for Non-Geostationary Orbit (NGSO) Satellite Services Operator in Bangladesh,” which were issued on March 25. The company’s application included the required fees and documents, which were verified by a BTRC committee and found to be complete and authentic.
A two-member team from BTRC visited Starlink’s office in Karwan Bazar, Dhaka, to assess the company’s readiness, and their recommendation led to the swift granting of the license.
Starlink officials were unavailable for comment at the time of the report’s publication.
