BT has started testing Starlink equipment at its Adastral Park research and development centre in Ipswich.
Initially, the technology will be deployed for BT’s business customers, focused on providing broadband coverage for mines and oil rigs. It is expected to be rolled out to consumers to plug gaps that traditional cables and masts have been unable to reach.
However, no formal agreement has been made for the provision of Starlink services in Britain and BT may have to seek regulatory approval from Ofcom before it can proceed with any deal.
Starlink, which has a network of around 5,000 satellites orbiting 350 miles above Earth, has been trialling direct-to-cell services for SMS and launched the service in the US earlier this month. That will be followed by data services, voice and IoT applications in 2025.
BT had previously partnered with London-based OneWeb for satellite connectivity. Virgin Media O2 has also carried out Starlink trials, while Vodafone has partnered with Project Kuiper, Amazon’s low Earth orbit satellite communications initiative for the provision of 4G and 5G services in Europe and Africa.
The UK’s four MNOs have agreed a joint venture, Shared Rural Network, into which they will collectively invest £532 million, with government investing a further £500 million.