Former President Ranil Wickremesinghe has expressed his gratitude to SpaceX founder and CEO, Elon Musk, for enabling access to Starlink satellite internet services for all Sri Lankans.

Wickremesinghe also stated that he hoped to meet Elon Musk in the near future, and explore the further opportunities available for Sri Lanka’s digital landscape, the former President’s Office said in a brief statement on Wednesday (2).

Former President Wickremesinghe had initiated the approval process for Starlink satellite internet services back in 2024 following a meeting with Mr. Musk in Bali, Indonesia on the sidelines of the 10th World Water Summit.

Starlink’s high-speed, low-latency satellite internet service is now officially available in Sri Lanka, billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk confirmed in a tweet on Wednesday.

In a post on social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter), Musk announced, “Starlink now available in Sri Lanka!”, marking the official launch of the service in the country.

The Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (TRCSL) had granted a “Telecommunications Service Provider” license to Starlink Lanka (Private) Limited on 14 August 2024, authorizing the company to offer satellite-based internet services across the island.

Starlink’s satellite internet is significantly faster than existing fibre-optic internet services in Sri Lanka and offers the major advantage of global accessibility, including in remote and underserved areas where conventional infrastructure is limited or unavailable.

With this launch, Sri Lanka has become the third country in South Asia after Bhutan and Bangladesh to get access to Starlink’s internet services. Starlink is also getting closer to launching its services in India.