Musk’s Starlink could be in Bermuda next year, telecoms say
Bermuda’s telecommunications companies are concerned about the potential for competition from Elon Musk’s satellite provider, Starlink, which offers mobile services.
Digicel said the service “poses a potential threat to our mobile services, as it can enter the market at any time”.
The company was responding in the preliminary stages of the 2025 Market Review of the Electronic Communications Sector, produced by the Regulatory Authority of Bermuda.
Starting October 1, telecom providers have to absorb the new requirement to lay out better and cheaper entry-level plans for both mobile phones and internet, but the full weight of RA decisions are even farther ranging.
During the consultative period earlier this year, Digicel noted Starlink’s website indicates its service will be available to Bermudians in 2026.
Digicel said: “A significant technological change can be expected when [Low Earth Orbit] companies begin to offer direct-to-device satellite services to mobile phones.
“Those services have already been offered by satellite operators, such as Starlink in the United States, and they are in negotiation with other mobile operators to roll [them out] in other jurisdictions in the region, and many of the newest smartphones, such as the latest generation iPhones, support direct-to-device connections.
“Entry by Starlink is likely since it has already achieved economies of scale at the regional level, and it would raise the number of infrastructure-based mobile operators in Bermuda to four.”
One Communications, meanwhile, used the RA’s lack of consideration of Starlink as one of the issues with the RA’s preliminary report.
In the final version of the report, however, the authority included the companies’ responses.
Digicel was not alone in a scathing review of the authority’s decisions on issues like return on capital employed, the analysis of which they felt was flawed and economically unsound.
The company also said it was unhappy that the RA requires a phase-out plan for Digicel’s legacy copper network.
The company would prefer to simply stop using it, so they can take advantage of the fibre network it has laid.
It sees the decommissioning of their copper network as a necessity, and wants the regulatory barriers removed.
Meredith Sharples, Digicel’s chief executive, wrote to the RA in February: “It is simply unfeasible to continue to operate an end-of-life network where there are increasing operational and financial constraints.”
Despite the criticism, telecom providers have said they are eager to work with the RA on a path forward.
Digicel said: “We look forward to contributing our perspectives and working together towards a more efficient regulatory framework that fosters investment, innovation and growth while keeping the strongest possible competition in the electronic communications markets.”
• For more on the sectoral review and final decision, order and determination, See Related Media
You must be Registered or to post comment or to vote.
