MILAN, Jan 7 - Billionaire Elon Musk is looking to carve out a role in Italy's telecommunications system by expanding his aerospace business Space X and satellite broadband venture Starlink.
Italy is evaluating potential supply accords with Starlink and Musk said on Monday that he was "ready to provide Italy the most secure and advanced connectivity!".
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has developed a strong relationship with Musk, a close ally of incoming U.S. President Donald Trump.
Elon Musk's SpaceX is making moves to expand its presence in Italy's telecommunications sector. The company is in talks with the Italian government to provide secure communications services using its satellite-based system. This would enable secure communication between government officials, diplomats, and defense personnel, particularly in sensitive areas across the Mediterranean ¹.
Additionally, SpaceX's Starlink venture is being considered to improve internet access in rural and underserved areas of Italy. The government plans to test Starlink's services to determine its viability as an alternative to traditional fiber-optic connections ¹.
Starlink has already partnered with Telespazio, a joint venture between Italian defense and aerospace group Leonardo and French peer Thales, to commercialize its services in Italy. This partnership has integrated Starlink into Telespazio's existing network, paving the way for further expansion ¹.
These developments demonstrate SpaceX's growing interest in the Italian market and its potential to play a significant role in the country's telecommunications sector.
Italy is evaluating the use of Musk's space-based telecommunications system to provide secure communications between the government, Italian diplomats and defence officials operating in sensitive areas across the Mediterranean.
These secure services offered by Musk would be a more immediate solution compared to the EU's IRIS2 (Iris squared) satellite constellation.
The multi-orbit array of more than 280 satellites, which aims to provide an encrypted backbone for EU governments and public agencies, is facing cost overruns, problems in financing and a full roll-out is not expected before end of 2030.
The government is preparing as early as this month to test the space-based service to check whether it is a viable alternative to enhance access to high-speed internet.
The Italian government is considering using Starlink services to boost Internet penetration in the most remote areas of the country in response to slow progress by state-backed companies in public-funded fibre roll-out programmes.
Starlink, part of Musk's SpaceX aerospace business, has 6,700 active satellites in low-Earth orbit and is a dominant force in the sector, controlling nearly two thirds of all active satellites.
It provides low-latency broadband to more than four million customers across the globe, of whom about 55,000 are in Italy, the euro zone's third largest economy.
Tags
News Room