Falkland Islands Government Clears Way for Starlink Broadband

The Falkland Islands Government (FIG) has, after plenty of confusion earlier this year (here), finally agreed to introduce a number of key changes that will allow both residents and businesses on the remote Falkland Islands, which is a British Overseas Territory, to finally be allowed to use Starlink’s (SpaceX) ultrafast LEO satellite broadband network.

The islands, which reside nearly 500km off the South American coast and are home to 3,700 people, have long suffered from poor digital connectivity and that’s partly due to the political fallout from the 1982 Falklands War. As a result, local residents often have little option but to connect via an extremely slow and expensive satellite data link from the dominant provider, Sure (Sure Falklands Islands).

Locals have long been campaigning for the local government to work with SpaceX in order to approve the use of its Starlink based broadband service on the island, which reflects a mega constellation of satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). This would be able to offer a significantly faster and more flexible service for a lot less money (note: Starlink will almost certainly do a Falklands-specific plan, so its packages and prices may not match the UK).

The good news, according to the Open Falklands blog, is that residents belonging to the Starlink Petition Group recently proclaimed 10th June 2025 to be Starlink Freedom Day. This came after the local government finally approved some crucial changes that will make it possible for an official Starlink broadband service to go live.

Statement by the Starlink Petition Group

The Starlink Petition Group welcomes and celebrates the announcement that the Falkland Islands Government has formally revised the VSAT policy and fee level.

This decision marks a historic step forward for connectivity in our community. After nearly a year of persistent, coordinated advocacy from islanders, FIG’s approval is a powerful affirmation of democratic engagement and public will. We thank all members of the Legislative Assembly and all those involved in the process for their careful deliberation and ultimate support of the petition.

The Starlink Petition Group also welcomes the Government’s agreement to the second element of the petition: a reduction in the licence fee for operating a VSAT (Very Small Aperture Terminal). Historically, the Falkland Islands Government had set an annual fee of £5,400, which was intended as a deterrent to prevent consumers and businesses from circumventing the exclusive licence held by the local telecommunications provider.

We are also profoundly grateful to all the engaged people of the islands, as well as public servants and the Communications Regulator, whose dedication made this approval possible. Your contributions throughout the process have been invaluable. Thank you.

Just to be clear, as well as improving the policy rationale for the issuing of personal VSAT licences, the cost of such licenses has now been slashed to just £180 per year – bringing it within the realm of consumer affordability. But the Communications Regulator will still need to go through the usual motions in order to get all of this formally introduced, which could also mean some difficult discussions with Sure (the Sure South Atlantic exclusive telecommunications licence isn’t set to expire until 29th December 2027).

SpaceX itself has previously indicated that it would look to officially make Starlink available to the Falklands during 2025, although they’ll first need to receive written confirmation of this week’s decision. After that it will then take a bit longer for them to agree terms, package/price details and any issues of spectrum licensing with the FIG etc.

Some of these processes will occur over the next few weeks, but we’re not yet sure exactly how long it will be before residents can officially take the new service (the community expectation seems to be a couple of months for the regulatory side of things). SpaceX itself has previously indicated that it would look to officially make Starlink available to the Falklands during 2025, which still seems plausible.

Legalising and normalising access to Starlink for all users could also help to make the Falklands a much more attractive place to both visit and do business. Thanks to one of our readers and campaign group member, Chris, for the news tip.