Free satellite service is offered by his company, as internet access is impossible due to the interruption caused by the large anti-government protests across the country.
As Bloomberg reports, SpaceX has waived Iran’s Starlink subscription fees so residents of the country with receivers can access the service without paying, according to Ahmad Ahmadian, executive director of the US-based group Holistic Resilience, which works with Iranians to secure Internet access.
A person familiar with Starlink’s operations confirmed the provision of the free service, but asked not to be named as the information is not public.
Meanwhile, Starlink, the microsatellite system that provides internet access around the world and is owned by Elon Musk, is the only way to access and transmit messages and videos from the anti-regime rallies that .
Iran shut down most internet connections for the country’s 90 million people as initial protests escalated into large-scale demonstrations against the regime. The unrest has already caused the death of hundreds of people as reported by international agencies.
In addition to internet access, the government in Tehran has also made it difficult to connect calls or send text messages.
Starlink is active, Musk says
Starlink is not licensed to operate in Iran, but Musk has previously said the service is active there. In December 2022, it posted on social media platform X that the company was “approaching 100 Starlinks active in Iran”, a modest number given Iran’s population of 92 million.
In June of last year, in response to a post on X asking him to provide Starlink access to Iran, Musk posted “the beams are on.”
After the 12-day war between Iran and Israel in June, Iran’s parliament passed a law formally banning the use of Starlink, introducing severe penalties for those who use or distribute the technology without permission, according to Iranian state media.
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