Vietnam licenses Musk's satellite internet firm Starlink

HANOI, Vietnam: Vietnam has granted a licence to Elon Musk’s Starlink to operate its satellite internet services in the communist country, a government agency said.

The radio frequency regulator said local unit Starlink Services Vietnam Co. can initially deploy four gateway stations and a maximum of 600,000 terminal devices in Vietnam.

The licensing requires Starlink to ensure “no interference with existing radio communication networks”, the Radio Frequency Management authority announced on Saturday.

The Starlink system would contribute to “expanding satellite internet connectivity” in the country, it added.

Starlink provides high-speed internet access to remote locations around the world via thousands of low Earth orbit satellites.

Nearly 80 percent of Vietnam’s around 100 million people are internet users, according to the Vietnam Internet Network Information Center.

But gaps in access to internet service remain in rural and mountainous areas.

Parent company SpaceX, founded by the world’s wealthiest person, Elon Musk, did not immediately reply to a request for comment from AFP on Sunday.

US-based Starlink says its services in Vietnam are “coming soon”, according to an availability map on its website.

Vietnam and the United States are in the process of negotiating a trade deal after Washington imposed 20 percent tariffs on Vietnamese goods last year.

The two countries held a sixth round of talks this month, but have not reached a final agreement.

Vietnam’s top leader To Lam will travel to the United States this week for a meeting of President Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace”, two sources briefed on the visit told AFP last week.

The board, of which Trump is the chairman, was originally intended to oversee the rebuilding of the Gaza Strip after two years of war, but its charter appears to extend beyond the Palestinian territory.

The first meeting is scheduled to take place on February 19 in Washington.

It was not clear if Communist Party General Secretary Lam would also hold trade talks with Trump.

Vietnam’s government has not confirmed or publicly announced the trip.

The Southeast Asian manufacturing hub recorded 8.0 percent growth last year despite the US levies many feared would crush its export-oriented growth model.

Hanoi is targeting double-digit growth this year.