WASHINGTON: The White House is in talks with billionaire Elon Musk about setting up SpaceX’s satellite internet service Starlink in Iran, CNN reported on Friday, citing officials familiar with the matter.

The satellite-based broadband service could help Iranians circumvent restrictions on accessing the internet and certain social media platforms.

The US treasury department said last month that some satellite internet equipment can be exported to Iran, suggesting that the company may not need a licence to provide satellite broadband service in the country.

Musk had then said he would activate Starlink in response to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s tweet that the United States took action “to advance internet freedom and the free flow of information” to Iranians.

Musk said on Tuesday Starlink had not received any funding from the US defence department for its services in Ukraine, adding the company was losing $20 million a month due to unpaid service and costs on security measures for cyber war defence.

SpaceX is aiming to grow Starlink, as it races against rival satellite communications companies such as OneWeb and Amazon.com’s yet to launch Project Kuiper.

Published in Dawn, October 22nd, 2022