Musk’s Starlink faces rough weather in Indonesia

Elon Musk’s satellite internet service, Starlink, is facing stiff resistance from Indonesian internet service providers (ISPs). The Indonesia Internet Service Provider Association is asking the government to ban Starlink’s license to sell services to consumers because ISPs see satellite provider as a threat to their market share. The ISPs have invested heavily in setting up a terrestrial network. They believe that Starlink can make them redundant if it decides to reduce the tariffs to compete with the ISPs. As of now, Starlink is charging significantly more than a typical ISP in the country. According to media reports, Starlink charges monthly fees of 750,000 Indonesian rupiah (around $45) and an initial cost of 5.9 million rupiah for an antenna. On the other hand, local ISPs charge 200,000 to 400,000 Rupiah per month for connectivity. However, since Starlink does not have to invest in deploying base stations, it can bring down the tariffs, which is bound to impact the ISPs.