Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Elon Musk’s satellite company, Starlink, won a US$ 89.8 million contract to provide free internet in Mexico.
According to reports Reuters quoted on Thursday (16/11/2023), the Mexican government awarded a contract of 1.56 billion pesos (US$ 89.8 million or Rp. 1.39 trillion) which is valid until 2026.
Mexico’s digital strategy coordinator, Carlos Emiliano Calderon, said that the free internet procurement contract was given to Starlink because the SpaceX subsidiary offered the best price in a tender offer process that was open to the public.
Apart from Starlink, he revealed that the free internet procurement contract was agreed with eight other companies.
Starlink will also provide infrastructure to Mexico’s state-owned energy company until December 2026 in a contract worth between 887.5 million pesos – 1.8 billion pesos.
Starlink is also reportedly exploring providing its services in Indonesia. Minister of Communication and Information, Budi Arie Setiadi, emphasized that Starlink must follow the regulations in force in Indonesia, including regarding the IP address and gateway which must be from Indonesia.
If this is not done, Indonesian society will suffer losses. For example, negative content such as porn and online gambling can be avoided with Starlink access.
“No [bukan belum patuh aturan], that’s actually a requirement for us, if you want to do business in Indonesia, the IP address must be in Indonesia. “Later we won’t be able to control it if Starlink comes directly to us, then there will be online gambling, porn, and then when will we regulate it,” he explained.
The news about Musk’s plans to visit Indonesia was conveyed by the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment (Menko Marves) Luhut Binsar Panjaitan. Last August, he invited Musk to Indonesia and the billionaire said he was ready to come at the end of September or early October.
This information was obtained when Musk and Luhut met. At that time, Starlink also discussed cooperation with lithium factories and the provision of internet access in eastern Indonesia.
“I think the investment is quite large, we’ll just have to wait until Elon comes here, around the end of September or October this year,” he said, quoted from his Instagram account.
[Gambas:Video CNBC]
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