The communications ministry has proposed to SpaceX’s satellite internet service, Starlink, to open its office in Malaysia to facilitate transactions for those seeking its services within the country. Its minister, Fahmi Fadzil, said the matter was conveyed during a meeting with the company’s Global Licensing and Market Activation director Rebecca Hunter at the Malaysia Pavilion at Mobile World Congress (MWC 2024) in Barcelona.
“There are also more interesting aspects that are now being discussed in many of my visits to the booths here… many are talking about ‘direct-to-cell’, from satellite to mobile phones,” he told reporters at the event. “So these are among the things we discussed with Starlink, whether it is willing to engage with telecommunications companies in Malaysia to provide direct-to-cell services.”
For the uninitiated, Starlink’s direct-to-cell feature enables access to cellular services such as text, voice and data from virtually anywhere via satellite transmission. This approach can be used on existing smartphones and other compatible devices, without the need for external accessories.
Fahmi’s proposal is still in the initial discussion phase at this time, and Starlink has yet to respond to the offer.
(Source: Bernama)
