Official Expresses Concern: Satellite Internet May Arrive in Iran Within a Year

Rasoul Jalili, a member of Iran’s Supreme Council of Cyberspace, said on Monday, August 11, that “satellite internet may arrive in our country within another year” and added that “we should not let fear of powerful new technology slow down or halt the Islamic Republic’s regulations for cyberspace.”

In an interview with ILNA news agency, Rasoul Jalili described satellite internet technology as a “threat” to “undermine governance” of the Islamic Republic of Iran and, in his view, “other countries,” and emphasized that “one cannot overlook the emergence of new technologies such as satellite internet.”

His remarks refer to Starlink technology (Star Link) of the American company SpaceX, which is intended to allow people in all countries worldwide to access the internet without filtering.

Starlink satellites currently cover all parts of the globe, but to achieve higher speeds and lower latency, the number of satellites needs to increase. The final goal is to have 12,000 satellites in orbit.

Starlink satellites are located 500 kilometers from Earth and are connected to each other as a network.

Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, announced in June this year that currently 69,000 customers are connected to the Starlink network, and its internet services will be available from August, the current month, to the entire world, except for the Arctic and Antarctic regions.

He predicted that within the next 12 months, half a million people worldwide will be connected to Starlink satellite internet.

Previously, on February 15, 2021, Abolhassan Firouzabadi, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme Council of Cyberspace, stated that with the arrival of satellite internet, “the entire national information network may be at risk” and announced that a working group had been formed to “confront” satellite internet.

The Islamic Republic has for years had a plan to separate the internet used by domestic users from the global web network on its agenda, and parts of this plan have been unveiled under the name “National Information Network.”

Regarding details of how the aforementioned working group intends to deal with the Starlink project, no information has been released to date.

Rasoul Jalili, a member of Iran’s Supreme Council of Cyberspace, on Monday, continuing his remarks, expressed hope that at the “international” level, some countries would take action to “counter” satellite internet.

Mr. Jalili’s remarks about the increasing likelihood of Iranians gaining access to unrestricted internet come at a time when Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, recently described cyberspace in Iran as “neglected and abandoned” and criticized responsible institutions for not restricting it.

In line with Ayatollah Khamenei’s remarks, the Islamic Consultative Assembly (parliament) in recent days, despite widespread objections from Iranian social media users, voted for a special commission to make decisions regarding the implementation of a plan called “Protection of Users’ Rights in Cyberspace and Organizing Social Messengers.”

Source: Radio Farda