Starlink shuts off service in PNG as licence remains ensnared in court

Details: John Tanner; Category: Satellite Networks; 30 December 2025; 4985 views

SpaceX’s LEO satellite operator Starlink has shut off service in Papua New Guinea – at least for now – and has reportedly withdrawn from the market amid ongoing legal tangles that have delayed approval of its licence to operate there.

As we reported earlier, PNG’s National Information and Communications Technology Authority (NICTA) had initially planned to issue a five-year licence to Starlink in January 2024.

However, two months later, the Ombudsman Commission issued a formal directive expressly prohibiting NICTA from issuing Starlink a licence, arguing that existing regulations didn’t address potential reliability issues with Starlink’s service. NICTA and the Commission have been in court ever since.

Complicating things is that some people have been importing and using Starlink terminals anyway, which NICTA says is illegal. To deal with that problem, NICTA announced earlier this month it had formally instructed SpaceX to stop providing Starlink connectivity in Papua New Guinea. Starlink officially switched off the service on December 16.

According to a report from RNZ on Monday, Starlink has withdrawn from Papua New Guinea, although it said in a statement to customers it remains prepared to offer services in the country once the legal issues between NICTA and the Ombudsman Commission are resolved.

NICTA said in a statement on December 18 that it is still keen to give Starlink a licence. “NICTA has acted in good faith throughout the process and continues to support the expansion of innovative, reliable, and affordable connectivity solutions for Papua New Guinea – within the framework of the law.”