Staff Correspondent:

United States-based satellite internet service provider Starlink, a subsidiary of SpaceX, has received approval from the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (Bida) to operate in the country.

Chowdhury Ashik Mahmud Bin Harun, executive chairman of Bida and the Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority, confirmed the approval at a press briefing held at the Foreign Service Academy on Sunday  (April 6 ), ahead of the upcoming Bangladesh Investment Summit 2025.

“We gave the approval on the 29th of last month,” he said.

Notably, foreign entities are required to obtain registration from Bida to conduct business in Bangladesh.

The Investment Summit, which will be held between 7 and 10 April, will be attended by numerous dignitaries from across the world.

Key guests will include Baroness Rosie Winterton of Doncaster DBE, the UK’s trade envoy to Bangladesh; Jarno Syrjälä, under-secretary of state for international trade, Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland; Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem,
group chairman and CEO of DP World; Óscar García Maceiras, CEO of Inditex; Mike Orgill, senior director of Public Policy and Government Relations, APAC, Uber; Kyeongsu Lee, vice president of SAMSUNG C&T; Jon Omund Revhaug, executive vice president and head of Telenor Asia; and Han Jun-seokt, CEO of Giordano Korea.

Earlier on 13 February, Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus held an extensive telephonic discussion with Elon Musk, chief executive officer of SpaceX, to explore future collaboration and advance the introduction of Starlink’s satellite internet services in Bangladesh.

Last month, several Bangladeshi firms signed agreements with Starlink to support the establishment of ground earth stations in the country. These contracts were signed during a visit by a Starlink team to Bangladesh.

On 23 March, Ashik Mahmud Bin Harun announced at another press briefing that Starlink would conduct a demonstration of its internet services during the Bangladesh Investment Summit.

However, this will only be a demo and not a commercial launch, which will take more time.

Last month, the chief adviser instructed authorities to ensure the commercial launch of Starlink within 90 days.

Additionally, on 26 March, the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission published its final guidelines for satellite internet service providers.

The guidelines include provisions allowing the state to intercept internet content, similar to existing regulations for mobile and fibre-based broadband services.