{"id":189128,"date":"2025-10-09T22:47:14","date_gmt":"2025-10-09T22:47:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/189128\/"},"modified":"2025-10-09T22:47:14","modified_gmt":"2025-10-09T22:47:14","slug":"starlink-to-create-bee-entity-as-part-of-licence-bid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/189128\/","title":{"rendered":"Starlink to create BEE entity as part of licence bid"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Starlink\u2019s<\/p>\n

Starlink\u2019s roaming satellite option. <\/p>\n

Starlink, a US-based low Earth orbit satellite internet service provider (ISP), will form a Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) compliant South African subsidiary in its bid to secure a licence to operate in the country, building on its earlier commitment to socio-economic development.<\/p>\n

Ryan Goodnight, senior director of Starlink Market Access, yesterday told members of the Internet Service Providers Association (ISPA) that the B-BBEE entity will be created after the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) has aligned its regulations with the law so it can receive a licence to operate.<\/p>\n

This company is to be created in addition to Starlink’s planned investment of at least R500 million in an equity equivalent programme to provide free high-speed internet to 5 000 schools, which will provide 2.4 million learners with broadband access, Goodnight noted.<\/p>\n

Starlink also aims to invest nearly R2 billion to build local infrastructure, work with local internet service providers to install and maintain school internet infrastructure and operate on an open-access basis, Goodnight says.<\/p>\n

During his presentation at ISPA’s annual general meeting yesterday, a recording of which is in ITWeb’s possession of, Goodnight said: \u201cAnd we set up our own entity in the country, and we seek our own licensing in the country, to become a local ISP. What that means is that we are paying local taxes, we are paying the same local regulatory fees as all other ISPs\u2026 we’re also subject to all of the same local laws.\u201d<\/p>\n

Starlink is a subsidiary of South African-born Elon Musk’s SpaceX. Musk, who also owns what is now X as well as electric vehicle company Tesla, is the world’s richest man with a net worth of $495.6 billion \u2013 or R8.5 trillion at today’s exchange rate of R17.25.<\/p>\n

See also <\/p>\n

\"Starlink\"SpaceX<\/p>\n

\u201cOver the last five years, since I’ve joined the company, the team has been pursuing its international presence. We’ve grown quite rapidly. So, we’re now at over seven million users around the world, and that has spread over 150 different telecom markets across all seven continents,\u201d Goodnight said. He noted that that this makes it the largest satellite internet service provider in the world.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The BEE company was not mentioned in Goodnight’s mid-June letter to Trade, Industry, and Competition Minister Parks Tau<\/a>. In that letter, Starlink offered to:<\/p>\n

Provide over 5 000 rural schools with fully-funded Starlink kits and service through a R500 million investment.Facilitate the installation\/maintenance support alongside local South African companies.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot only will this help the South African government achieve its objectives under SA Connect, but our EEIP will support local businesses and will positively impact the lives of an estimated 2.4 million school children each year, by providing access to world-class digital education,\u201d wrote Goodnight.<\/p>\n

The 14 June 2025 letter is available here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

In June, Starlink’s approach was to persuade government to allow it to implement an Equity Equivalent Investment Programme (EEIP). This is a mechanism through which international companies can secure empowerment status without having to sell a proportion of the entity to black-owned entities.<\/p>\n

Starlink has, so far, been denied a licence because it does not have a 30% empowerment stake, which is a requirement by ICASA.<\/p>\n

In his letter addressed to Tau in mid-June, Goodnight emphasised that the company could not sell a percentage of the company because \u201cStarlink is a global system, and we must retain sole ownership of all our subsidiaries for operational purposes\u201d.<\/p>\n

Goodnight argued that companies such as Microsoft, IBM and Amazon already rely on EEIPs to meet their local ownership obligations, without sacrificing their commitment to transformation.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs you [Tau] recently stated during your visit to the United States, EEIPs are already accepted and successfully implemented across most economic sectors in South Africa. This includes the pharmaceutical, manufacturing, banking and technology sectors,\u201d Goodnight said.<\/p>\n

Tau was part of a delegation to America to attempt to secure a favourable trade policy with US president Donald Trump. This country was unable to secure a deal, and a 30% export duty was applied to all South African companies selling goods to the US from 7 August.<\/p>\n

Under an EEIP, companies must invest in socio-economic development through approved programmes like skills training, enterprise development, and job creation, which are overseen by the government and must be approved by the minister of trade, industry, and competition.<\/p>\n

The EEIP offerings were made amid tensions between ICASA and communications minister Solly Malatsi. In May, the minister gazetted a draft policy direction that may make it possible for Starlink to operate locally.<\/p>\n

Malatsi instructed ICASA to examine alternatives to direct empowerment, including equity equivalent investment programmes, as a mechanism to broaden broadband coverage.<\/p>\n

The minister’s move was met with some criticisms, with many viewing it as South Africa bending its transformation rules to enable the licensing of Starlink. Musk has publicly slammed South Africa’s transformation obligations and policies, saying they stand in the way of Starlink operating locally.<\/p>\n

However, Goodnight \u2013 in reiterating Starlink’s commitment to empowerment in South Africa \u2013 said the reason the company could not operate locally was because of ICASA’s requirements, which are contrary to current laws.<\/p>\n

\u201cSaid another way, the law already supports what ICASA’s regulations do not. This is why Starlink welcomes the recent policy directive from the minister of communications, which calls on ICASA to correct the misalignment between its licensing regulations and the underlying B-BBEE laws.\u201d<\/p>\n

Goodnight said if ICASA allowed companies to use EEIPs under the B-BBEE Act, Starlink would immediately apply for its licences in South Africa and move quickly to deliver high-speed internet nationwide, focusing on underserved areas.<\/p>\n

He added that millions of children lack access to educational resources because broadband doesn’t reach rural regions \u2013 a problem Starlink aims to help solve.<\/p>\n

* EDIT (9 October 2025):\u00a0The text of this article has been updated at Starlink’s request to clarify that it\u00a0will form a B-BBEE compliant subsidiary, rather than adding an existing company as part of its licence bid.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Starlink\u2019s roaming satellite option. Starlink, a US-based low Earth orbit satellite internet service provider (ISP), will form a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":185088,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[1638,46098,81773,412,9676,86,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-189128","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-internet","8":"tag-internet","9":"tag-internet-service-providers","10":"tag-ryan-goodnight","11":"tag-spacex","12":"tag-starlink","13":"tag-technology","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom","16":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189128","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=189128"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189128\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/185088"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=189128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=189128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=189128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}