SACHA PFEIFFER, HOST:
Starlink, a subsidiary of Elon Musk's SpaceX, recently sent its satellite No. 10,000 into space.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Ignition. Engines full power, and lift off. From 10-10 to 10,000, go Starlink. Go...
PFEIFFER: Starlink is the dominating power in providing satellite Internet services globally. Its competitors don't even come close. And Musk is expanding Starlink to countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean that have historically suffered from infrastructure issues.
What are the pros and cons of this for the Global South? We're going to put that question to Steve Feldstein. He's a senior fellow with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Welcome to the program.
STEVE FELDSTEIN: Thanks for having me on.
PFEIFFER: Why is it so difficult for satellite internet companies - even major players in China and Europe - to compete at Starlink's level?
FELDSTEIN: Well, right now, Starlink has a significant advantage when it comes to having far more satellites than any other country, and so that's one thing that allows Starlink to have a bigger advantage over other places. The other issue is that Starlink is able to use SpaceX's reusable rockets, and so that gives a cost advantage to Starlink over any other provider. Those rockets are far cheaper and far more efficient in terms of bringing up satellites than other countries have.
PFEIFFER: We have seen some countries jump on the bandwagon of signing deals with Musk. India is a major one, also smaller countries like Bangladesh and Lebanon. But Bolivia, for example, a country with major infrastructure limitations, rejected a Starlink partnership. What are these countries weighing in making these decisions?
FELDSTEIN: Yeah, it comes down to a couple key issues. On the one hand, many countries would really benefit from having greater connectivity for their populations. And there's been a lot of problems that countries have had when it comes to going the last mile and being able to provide connectivity to their citizens, especially in rural, hard-to-reach areas. And so Starlink provides a very easy solution to get around that problem.
But on the flip side, as Bolivia has articulated - and other countries as well - there's concerns that relying on a single provider, particularly one that is as politically oriented as the owner of Starlink, Elon Musk, can be really dangerous from a country's sovereignty perspective.
What if Starlink decides to cut connectivity, which has happened in other arenas? What options does that country then have? Those kind of questions makes governments very nervous, particularly those that may not have a foreign policy that is directly aligned with the United States.
PFEIFFER: Elaborate on that a bit. You described Elon Musk, of course, as politically oriented. He's a private billionaire with - he's been very clear about his political ambitions. So why does it matter if someone like that gets to decide who gets internet access and who doesn't?
FELDSTEIN: Well, essentially in a situation like that, you are dependent on having an alignment with Elon Musk's views, and if he sees things differently, then you could, all of a sudden, find yourself in a pinch.
A good example occurred with Ukraine. Ukraine was putting together military operations in the Crimea against Russia and was using Starlink satellites as a means to help facilitate those operations. After a phone call with Russian officials, all of a sudden, that Starlink connectivity was disconnected, and that operation had to be halted right away. That's a good example where a foreign policy's larger interest will trump a country's sovereignty.
PFEIFFER: In terms of rules and regulations, broadband internet providers have to abide by many of them, but there are relatively few for the satellite internet industry. Why is that?
FELDSTEIN: Well, it's a newer industry. It's one where you see a lag between regulations having caught up to the industry itself. I think over time, this is something that will start to get laid out and with more consistency.
PFEIFFER: But it's likely to come with time or, at least, more regulation likely to come with time.
FELDSTEIN: One would think so.
PFEIFFER: Assuming that you believe there should be more regulation of this sector, why do you think that is?
FELDSTEIN: Yeah, there are a lot of questions that have come up when it comes to standards related to cybersecurity, when it comes to how data that is used as part of these systems - to what degree will they be private? There are also questions when it comes to surveillance that potentially can be exploited when it comes to user data.
PFEIFFER: Could you give me one example of a place where you think a lack of regulation is problematic?
FELDSTEIN: A good example would be Zimbabwe, where you have a government-related entity that has helped to deploy Starlink satellites there through its communications company. It's unclear to what extent there are privacy guarantees for citizens. And so that's where having a regulatory standard about how privacy data is protected would be really important.
PFEIFFER: Steve Feldstein is a senior fellow with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Thank you.
FELDSTEIN: Thanks for having me. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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