Starlink warns South African users that roaming will stop working - unless they get Icasa approval

bwana said:
Which government departments are using it?
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I've heard of quite a few government offices using it where either there isn't internet or it's simply better. This seems to be a case of "shooting yourself in the foot" and "don't bite the hand that feeds you".
 
Swa said:
I've heard of quite a few government offices using it where either there isn't internet or it's simply better. This seems to be a case of "shooting yourself in the foot" and "don't bite the hand that feeds you".
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So you heard of, but not encountered yourself. Pity - I think that would have made for an interesting article.
 
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Kayoss said:
Also South Africa.. What I was asking is if anyone outside of Africa has received that email.. When looking online it appears limited to African countries. Maybe Starlink will only be enforcing the policy in Africa for some reason.
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Yeah I don't think this is about roaming at all as it's a paid service and the requirement will fall away eventually. It was only intended so people wouldn't use it in restricted countries but they seem to be enforcing that directly now.
 
Here is the problem. I think Elon Musk thought he was the mightiest person in the world and could do what he want. He thought he could bypass all these countries and their laws. But, Africa put him in his place. They showed him he was nothing but a niksnut. Africa rules the world and the world will play by its rules.
 
rvZA said:
Here is the problem. I think Elon Musk thought he was the mightiest person in the world and could do what he want. He thought he could bypass all these countries and their laws. But, Africa put him in his place. They showed him he was nothing but a niksnut. Africa rules the world and the world will play by its rules.
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Probably just US oversight forcing him to play nice especially considering all the negative publicity of Russia having mountains of these kits being used in or near Ukraine.
 
rvZA said:
Here is the problem. I think Elon Musk thought he was the mightiest person in the world and could do what he want. He thought he could bypass all these countries and their laws. But, Africa put him in his place. They showed him he was nothing but a niksnut. Africa rules the world and the world will play by its rules.
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It was actually Iran most likely. They took them to the ITU and they ruled that Starlink would need to shut off access in any areas where they were not authorized to provide service.

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Wouldnt a VPN work ? Run the VPN on the registered country for a week or so then switch back. Repeat the process every month and a half.
 
Scorpion101 said:
Wouldnt a VPN work ? Run the VPN on the registered country for a week or so then switch back. Repeat the process every month and a half.
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If I had built this service, I would have designed exactly what they have , the control/access plane would be at a lower level.

e.g. They know you are in South Africa, as your terminal iz connecting to a satellite in geostationary above South Africa. Based on that and what their provisioning rules are, you either get connected or not.

Don't think a VPN is going to be workaround
 
TedLasso said:
If I had built this service, I would have designed exactly what they have , the control/access plane would be at a lower level.

e.g. They know you are in South Africa, as your terminal iz connecting to a satellite in geostationary above South Africa. Based on that and what their provisioning rules are, you either get connected or not.

Don't think a VPN is going to be workaround
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Nah, they know you're in South Africa because the antennae has a built in GPS module which is required to determine how to best orientate the motorised antennae for best reception. Also, starllink satellites aren't in geostationery orbit - they're constantly moving in LEO.

Edit: Nice tracking page: https://satellitemap.space/
 
lkpat said:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Starlink/comments/1c55f6t/starlink_to_disconnect_dishies_in_areas_where
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https://www.reddit.com/r/Starlink/comments/1c55f6t/starlink_to_disconnect_dishies_in_areas_where
It is more likely due to the ITU pressure on the US and Norway (Starlink submitted its initial ITU application via Norway). Unfortunately the ITU treaties the US and Norway signed prohibit unlicensed service. Here is what the ITU ruled in Oct 2023 and additional questions asked:

Consequently, the Board reiterated that the provision of transmissions from within any territories where they had not been authorized, was in direct contravention of the provisions of RR Article 18 and of, resolves 1 and 2 of Resolution 22 (WRC-19) and the resolves of Resolution 25 (WRC03) and requested the Administration of Norway, acting as the notifying administration for the relevant satellite systems providing STARLINK services and the Administration of the United States as an associated administration to the notifying administration to comply with those provisions by taking immediate action to disable STARLINK terminals operating within the territory of the Administration of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The Board instructed the Bureau to invite the Administrations of Norway, and the United States to provide further clarification on the following points to the Board’s 95th meeting:

  • What measures had been taken, besides stipulations in customer terms of service, to prohibit the provision of STARLINK services in territories where they had not been authorized, to ensure compliance with the provisions of RR Article 18, resolves 1 and 2 of Resolution 22 (WRC-19) and the resolves of Resolution 25 (WRC-03)?
  • What steps had been taken to resolve cases where STARLINK terminals were operating without authorization pursuant to resolves 3 of Resolution 22 (WRC-19)?
  • How were connections from STARLINK terminals authorized from within territories of countries where they had not been authorized?
In the latest March 2024 meeting the ITU continued to pressure the US and Norway:

  • What was the reason for the warning message in English and Persian to users indicating: “Use caution in regions that may be hostile to Starlink usage. Starlink will not provide information about you or your Starlink usage to law enforcement or governments, … Use a VPN service to help hide the fact that you’re using Starlink. …”?
  • Could the administrations confirm the capability of the space operator to disable Starlink services over a territory?
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Kayoss said:
Read all the comments there.. Every single person saying they received a notice is in an African country. Those outside of Africa are commenting that they did not receive any notice. Ironically, even from Iran.
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They're obviously starting to enforce in Africa which was inevitable as they have done so in Europe, North and South America.
 
lkpat said:
This morning was like waking up to regression. Heard from mom that one of our senior citizen retirement complexes has instituted lockdown after one resident tested positive for Covid.
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There must be a Novid onsite, unfortunately, @neoprema you dont qualify to join the Novid Community:
 
quovadis said:
They're obviously starting to enforce in Africa which was inevitable as they have done so in Europe, North and South America.
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Source? Save for Turkey, DRC and now Zim where it's banned, I'm not aware of Starlink enforcing their roaming limit in Europe, North and South America.
 
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