‘Pricey’ Starlink not an immediate threat, say telcos

As the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) is set to grant final approval to Starlink to commence operations in Pakistan shortly, scepticism and fear of the unknown are visible among the telecom industry. There is a lot of speculation related to Starlink’s arrival, but all four telecom operators in Pakistan agree that it is difficult to predict the outcome right now. Responding to the queries, Jazz, Zong, Telenor, and Ufone express satisfaction that Starlink would be offering premium prices for their satellite-based internet services, and that is less likely to substitute the existing data services at the fibre, especially in the urban areas. “In the short run, there could be clients subscribing to the Starlink services, but these are very expensive, so not everybody will fall into this segment,” said a senior executive of a telco, adding that there was a very little probability that Starlink will heavily subsidise their services to increase its footprint in the market.