Starlink has announced temporary free access to satellite internet in Venezuela, amid a political crisis and reports of communication disruptions following a US military operation.
Starlink has announced temporary free access to satellite internet in Venezuela, amid a political crisis and reports of communication disruptions following a US military operation.
According to CNBC, the company is charging service credits to both active and inactive accounts, and promises “zero” fees until at least February 3. Starlink says it is monitoring the situation and regulatory requirements, but does not specify what the tariffs will be after that date. On the official availability map, the country is marked as “coming soon,” so access is provided through the Roam roaming plan, and users purchase the connection equipment kit separately.
The decision came after the US strikes and ground raid on January 3: Venezuela reported power and internet outages in parts of Caracas, and local media reported outages in Miranda state. US President Donald Trump said Washington would "oversee the transition" of power after the arrest of Nicolas Maduro, and warned of a possible second strike. A UN Security Council meeting on the legality of the US actions is scheduled for January 6; a number of countries, including Brazil and Spain, have condemned the operation.
This is not the first time Starlink has hit a crisis point. The service was launched in Ukraine in 2022 after the destruction of networks due to the Russian invasion. At the same time, dependence on a private operator has caused controversy: in 2023, Musk’s biography mentioned the refusal to activate coverage over temporarily occupied Crimea, after which the US Senate spoke of “national risks”. In June 2023, the Pentagon signed a contract with SpaceX and took Starlink’s work in Ukraine under formal supervision.
Previously, dev.ua wrote about how Starlink has begun a large-scale "reconfiguration" of its satellite constellation: some of the devices will be transferred to a lower orbit to reduce the risk of incidents in oversaturated space traffic.
