ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka’s Deputy Speaker Ajith Rajapaksa has endorsed the certificate on the “Sri Lanka Telecommunications (Amendment)” Bill, a parliament statement said.
The amendment of the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC) Act will accommodate the Starlink satellite system founded by billionaire head of SpaceX and Tesla Elon Musk.
“In terms of the provisions of Article 79 of the Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, the Hon. Speaker has endorsed the certificates on the Bills titled “Sri Lanka Telecommunications (Amendment)” on 17 July 2024.”
The island nation granted preliminary approval for Starlink to provide satellite-based internet services in the country, following a formal public consultation process.
The move came after President Ranil Wickremesinghe met Musk in the sideline the 10th World Water Forum in Indonesia two months ago.
However, Sri Lanka’s TRC law had no provision to grant licence for a third party to operate telecommunication services.
Related story
Sri Lanka govt to amend to TRC Act to accommodate Elon Musk’s Starlink
The new amendment introduces infrastructure service licence, telecommunication service licence and cable landing station licence, State Technology Minister Kanaka Herath said earlier. (Colombo/Jul23/2024)