Kazakhstan’s minister of digital and aerospace told a government briefing that legislation will be amended to permit the general use of Space X’s Starlink satellite constellation after a trial of the technology connecting schools was permitted last month.
CommsUpdate reported via Profit.kz, Head of Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Digital Development, Innovation & Aerospace Industry (MDAI), Bagdat Musin, informed the government of the law change.
Some people have been connecting to Starlink services illegally and MDAI authorities have been pursuing users and sellers of terminals with warnings and fines, until the amendment takes place.
Minister Musin said: “I can’t say in the first half of the year or in the second, because everything depends on the Mazhilis [lower house of parliament]. That is, first from our development of the model, then we will come to the Mazhilis and continue to discuss. If the Mazhilis supports it, it will be accepted. By the end of next year we will definitely resolve the issue.”
The government launched a pilot project with Starlink to connect 10 schools in rural locations to broadband connectivity. There are 2,000 schools being lined up to connect to Starlink’s low earth orbit satellites within the next six months.
