Mexico City, Mexico — Elon Musk’s company Starlink Satellite Systems has been granted rights to broadcast and receive satellite signals for wireless internet in Mexico by the Federal Telecommunications Institute (IFT).
Although the company has been granted these rights, the IFT (Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones) says Starlink will still have to apply for a concession to be able to provide internet connectivity services in Mexico.
“The Service Concessions Unit of the Federal Institute of Telecommunications, resolved to grant an authorization to exploit the rights of emission and reception of signals and bands of frequencies associated with foreign satellite systems that cover and can provide services in the national territory in favor of Starlink Satellite Systems Mexico S.A de C.V. ,” the document details.
On April 2, Starlink Satellite Systems Mexico, through its legal representative, submitted a request for authorization to the IFT to exploit the rights of emission and reception of frequency band signals associated with satellite systems to eventually be able to provide services in Mexico.
Given this, the telecommunications regulatory body explained that the authorization it granted to Starlink is only for signal emission and reception rights, and that Elon Musk’s company will require a single concession to be able to provide connectivity services in the country.
“In the event that the Authorized (Starlink) intends to provide services to individuals or legal entities, it must have a single concession for commercial use or the respective public telecommunications network concession granted prior to entry,” explained the IFT.
Starlink is currently trialing its service with customers in 11 countries including the U.S. and the U.K. In May, Musk said his company had received more than 500,000 preorders for its internet service. The company is hoping to be able to provide global coverage by September.
