The Bangladesh Satellite Company Limited (BSCL), the state-run satellite operator, has struck a deal to resell the satellite internet services of Starlink, the satellite internet arm of Elon Musk's SpaceX.
Under the business-to-business arrangement, signed on July 11, the BSCL will spend $2.5m (about Tk 29.25 crore) to procure Starlink terminals and data packages, which it intends to resell to corporate clients, confirmed by Shah Ahmedul Kabir, general manager (sales and marketing) at BSCL.
Of the total amount, $1.1m will go toward hardware—Starlink's user terminals—while the rest will cover the data pool.
Though the payment goes entirely toward Starlink services, it will not be handed over to the American firm as a single upfront transfer, Kabir clarified.
As part of the Starlink reseller framework, Starlink's local entity—Starlink Bangladesh—will import the terminals and sell them to local resellers, including the BSCL, in Bangladeshi currency.
Resellers will receive a 15 percent discount on hardware and 5 percent off the service charges. They will also gain access to Starlink's reseller portal and API (application programming interface) for managing clients and services.
Resellers are also free to set their own pricing, directly bill customers, and offer value-added services such as installation and technical support.
Potential customers include banks, hospitals, factories, data centres, offshore installations, and sectors such as aviation, maritime, energy, construction, and media.
Globally, Starlink markets primarily to individual users through its "Residential" and "Roam" packages. For corporate and government clients, it relies on resellers under its "Business" and "Priority" plans. In Bangladesh, BSCL and other local agents will be able to serve both enterprise and residential markets, though individuals can still buy directly through Starlink's website.
The reselling move represents a pivot for BSCL, whose mainstay—Bangabandhu Satellite-1—has struggled to generate significant commercial returns since its much-trumpeted launch in 2018. By hitching itself to Starlink, BSCL hopes to diversify its offerings and establish a foothold in the growing market for high-speed internet in hard-to-reach corners of the country.
Starlink's entry into Bangladesh has been accompanied by considerable government enthusiasm, with officials promoting it as a major step forward in the country's digital connectivity. To expedite the rollout, the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) granted Starlink a 90-day waiver to operate without a local gateway. That waiver is scheduled to expire in early August.
To facilitate the rollout, Starlink has partnered with several Bangladeshi companies for infrastructure support. Fibre@Home and its sister concerns have emerged as key local partners.
They are currently constructing Starlink's first ground station at the Hi-Tech City in Kaliakair, Gazipur, and plan to develop more in Jashore and Cox's Bazar.
Starlink's servers will be hosted at Felicity IDC Limited, a Tier III data centre within the Kaliakair park, according to officials of Fibre@Home.
Starlink could not be reached for comment regarding the resell deal.
Source: https://www.thedailystar.net/business/economy/news/bscl-resell-starlink-internet-services-3948616
