SpaceX’s LEO satellite broadband operator Starlink is set to officially launch services in Kazakhstan later this year after it signed a regulatory compliance agreement with the country’s Ministry of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry (MDAI).
According to a ministry press release issued Thursday, the agreement stipulates that Starlink will operate in full compliance with the country's telecoms and data security legislation.
The agreement clears the way for Starlink to officially launch of sales of Starlink satellite terminals in Kazakhstan starting in the third quarter of this year.
Starlink and the ministry are still finalising technical and organizational arrangements for the service, including parameters for providing services to individual users.
Starlink has been legally available in Kazakhstan since late 2023 via a pilot trial that was available exclusively for schools in rural areas. However, a number of individual usrs have also been accessing the service via illegal terminals.
In the meantime, Starlink has been waiting for the government to amend its legislation to allow it to operate in the country.
“Now we have reached an agreement, [Starlink] will operate in accordance with the requirements of national legislation in the field of information security and communications,” said MDAI minister Zhaslan Madiyev. “The necessary work will be carried out this year, and residents will be able to officially and legally connect to satellite Internet.”
The MDAI also said the Starlink deal is being implemented within the framework of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s directive to reduce the digital divide between urban and rural areas with affordable internet services.
