The way opens for satellite Internet in Greece

One step closer for Greek consumers are the satellite Internet services offered by Elon Musk’s Starlink, the OneWeb consortium and other companies.

The road is paved by a joint ministerial decision on the operation of satellite dishes that also function as transmitters, as opposed to satellite TV antennas that only operate as receivers and therefore do not use public electromagnetic spectrum.

The decision was co-signed by the Deputy Minister of Digital Government Thodoris Livanios and the Deputy Minister of Environment and Energy, Nikos Tagaras, following a proposal by the National Telecommunications and Post Commission.

Satellite Internet offers speeds of up to 100 Mbps and is mainly intended for remote areas that are not adequately covered by terrestrial networks.

The largest satellite Internet service today is SpaceX’s Starlink, which to date has launched about 1,600 small satellites in low Earth orbit.

The company plans to offer the service in Greece soon, possibly within the year.

In its final form, the company’s constellation will include thousands more satellites and will offer internet access from “anywhere in the world”, as promised by the company’s founder Elon Musk.

Also in the game are Britain’s OneWeb, which has launched several dozen satellites to date, and Jeff Bezos’ Amazon, which designs the Kuiper constellation but has not yet launched its own satellites.