In the remote expanse of the Pacific Islands, a new constellation of tiny satellites promises to bring high-speed internet to even the smallest atolls. Starlink, the satellite internet service operated by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, is expanding across Pacific Island countries.
Its arrival has been heralded as a digital lifeline for isolated communities, but it is also posing regulatory challenges and stirring debate. International Finance explores Starlink’s expansion in the Pacific, offering a balanced look at the opportunities it presents and the hurdles it faces.
What is Starlink?
Starlink is a satellite internet constellation with thousands of small satellites in low-Earth orbit. Launched and operated by SpaceX, these satellites fly much closer to Earth than traditional communications satellites, enabling low-latency, high-bandwidth internet connectivity on the ground.
Users access Starlink via a pizza-box-sized dish antenna (a terminal) that communicates with the passing satellites. The signal is then routed through ground stations and into the global internet. In essence, Starlink beams the web from the sky directly to users’ homes, bypassing the need for undersea cables or extensive land infrastructure.
This model differs from older satellite services. Traditional providers like Kacific rely on a single geostationary satellite positioned tens of thousands of kilometres above the equator. Geostationary satellites stay fixed relative to Earth’s rotation, so a dish can point at one spot in the sky. However, they often suffer from higher latency and require larger ground equipment.
Starlink’s low-flying satellites reduce latency dramatically, at the cost of needing many satellites moving across the sky and sophisticated tracking by the dish. OneWeb, a British-backed venture, is another LEO satellite internet provider eyeing the Pacific market. Together, these systems represent a new generation of space-based internet that can reach places traditional broadband has never touched.
Starlink’s Pacific debut and expansion
Starlink’s journey into the Pacific has unfolded over the past few years, beginning with a dramatic entrance in Tonga and spreading to many islands. Below is a timeline of key milestones.
In January 2022, a massive undersea volcanic eruption severed Tonga’s only international fibre-optic cable, plunging the Kingdom into digital darkness. In response, Elon Musk offered to send Starlink terminals to help. Within weeks, SpaceX set up a ground station in neighbouring Fiji and donated 50 Starlink terminals to Tonga.
Tonga’s former Prime Minister Siaosi Sovaleni hailed it as a “paradoxical silver lining,” noting that cutting-edge satellite technology arrived as a result of the disaster. The Starlink units were deployed to remote outer islands hardest hit by the tsunami, providing free high-speed internet until Tonga’s cable could be repaired.
In 2023, there were some early reactions and restrictions. As Starlink’s constellation grew, Pacific nations began grappling with how to regulate it. In Samoa, authorities initially banned Starlink in January 2023 due to unauthorised use of terminals, only to reconsider a few months later.
By March 2023, Samoa’s cabinet approved Starlink in principle, aiming to partner with SpaceX so that some revenue stays in-country. Meanwhile, Vanuatu’s regulator in early 2023 warned that Starlink use was illegal without a license. Vanuatu reportedly banned unlicensed Starlink gear in February 2023, reflecting concerns about interference and regulatory oversight.
By late 2023, the first licenses were granted, and demand grew. By the end of 2023, some Pacific nations had officially adopted Starlink. Fiji became a leader by licensing Starlink in November 2023, allowing the service to operate commercially. According to Fijian officials, Starlink connectivity had spread to “over 300 islands” across Fiji by May 2024.
In Niue, however, authorities grew alarmed at Starlink units quietly appearing on the island. With no license issued to SpaceX, Niue declared Starlink operations illegal, setting the stage for a ban in 2024.
Then came the legal showdowns and stopgap measures. The new year saw mixed fortunes for Starlink. In Papua New Guinea, the government announced in January 2024 that it had granted a five-year license for Starlink, calling it a “New Year’s gift” to the nation’s tech sector. However, competing providers and regulators raised questions, and by August 2024, the Starlink license in PNG had become entangled in a court challenge, now under judicial review.
PNG’s telecom authority even confiscated some Starlink kits brought in without permission, signalling that service would be on hold until the courts decide. Meanwhile, Tonga faced a mini-crisis when, on June 29, 2024, a domestic undersea cable outage cut off two of its islands from Tongatapu. At the same time, some Tongans had begun using Starlink without authorisation.
On July 9, Tongan officials ordered Starlink to cease operations due to a lack of an operating license. Just ten days later, recognising the ongoing outage, the government granted a six-month provisional permit for Starlink so that connectivity could be restored in the outer islands while a full license was processed.
Toward the end of 2024, the Pacific saw novel implementations of Starlink. Nauru opened the region’s first “Starlink community gateway” in December 2024. This is essentially a high-capacity Starlink installation meant to feed an entire community or country’s network, expanding internet access beyond individual user terminals. Similarly, in the Federated States of Micronesia, the state of Kosrae launched its own Starlink community gateway in February 2025.
Meanwhile, Vanuatu, which had initially banned Starlink, softened its stance. After back-to-back cyclones caused extensive damage in early 2023, Vanuatu granted a temporary restricted license in 2024 to allow Starlink during disaster recovery.
By mid-2025, Starlink boasted availability in over 100 countries worldwide, and the Pacific Islands are increasingly part of that map. According to regional reports, Starlink access is now on offer in many of the 18 member states of the Pacific Islands Forum, including Fiji, Tonga, Vanuatu, and others, though not all have formalised the service. In July 2025, Tonga moved from provisional permission to a full operating license for Starlink.
As of 2025, the momentum is evident because satellite internet is becoming a fixture in the Pacific, even as each nation finds its own path to accommodate or restrict the new technology. Fiji has emerged as an enthusiastic early adopter of Starlink’s technology. Fiji officially licensed Starlink in late 2023, with Deputy Prime Minister Manoa Kamikamica touting the service as a “game changer for Fiji” that will boost connectivity during natural disasters and for remote islands.
One of the most celebrated uses of Starlink in Fiji has been in education. In a government-led initiative, Starlink units were installed at six remote schools in the interior of Fiji’s largest island, Viti Levu. These are villages that previously had little to no internet access. Thanks to Starlink, students and teachers in places like Nakorosule and Nadarivatu can browse online learning materials and even join virtual lessons — activities once unimaginable in these areas.
The Education Ministry noted that these six schools are now benefiting from “high-speed, low-latency” internet, unlocking everything from cloud-based teaching tools to improved school administration. This aligns with a global “GIGA” initiative to connect every school to the internet by 2030, and Fiji’s government appears keen to leapfrog decades of limited infrastructure using satellite broadband.
Beyond schools, Starlink is extending connectivity to Fiji’s far-flung communities. With over 100 inhabited islands, Fiji has long struggled to connect rural villagers who live beyond the reach of fibre-optic cables or even cellular towers.
In stark contrast to Fiji, the tiny Pacific Island of Niue took a hard line against Starlink, at least initially. Niue’s government outright banned Starlink usage in 2024, warning that anyone operating the service without a license could face fines of up to about $200 or even three months in prison.
The sudden ban came after officials discovered several Starlink units had appeared on Niue without authorisation. In Niue, all communications services are governed by an ageing Communications Act of 1989, which requires operators to be licensed. The island’s lone telecom provider, state-owned Telecom Niue, relies on satellite bandwidth and a 4G mobile network to serve its 1,700 residents. Unlicensed Starlink dishes, in the government’s view, threatened to bypass these regulations and potentially undermine the local telecom system.
Niue’s Minister of Infrastructure, Crossley Tatui, even asked SpaceX to geofence or disable Starlink in Niue’s territory. As of mid-2024, that request had reportedly gone unanswered, and a handful of residents continued to use Starlink illicitly.
One of them is Glen Jackson, a Niuean entrepreneur and musician, who has become an outspoken advocate for the service. His multimedia company livestreams events like funerals and sports tournaments. It was nearly impossible with Niue’s limited 4G network. Jackson noted that Starlink’s faster upload speeds allow him to reliably stream from villages that previously had little bandwidth. On downloads, Niue’s 4G might deliver 40-50 Mbps on a good day, whereas Starlink gave him 200-380 Mbps. It was definitely a transformative difference.
Tonga’s experience with Starlink encapsulates both the life-saving potential of satellite internet and the complexities of integrating it into a national framework. As noted in the timeline, Tonga was the first Pacific country to use Starlink, albeit out of sheer necessity. When the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano erupted catastrophically in January 2022, it wreaked physical devastation and severed Tonga’s only international fibre-optic cable.
Overnight, this nation of 100,000 was cut off from the world. In the crisis, Starlink became a lifeline. SpaceX’s donated terminals enabled connectivity in some of the worst-hit outer islands, allowing villagers to communicate and access information while the undersea cable was repaired. Tongan officials expressed deep gratitude for the assistance. So much so that the then PM Sovaleni quipped that Elon Musk likely hadn’t known much about Tonga before, “but gave generously” when the country was in need.
After the emergency period, Tonga’s traditional internet links were restored, and the Starlink units were presumably deactivated or returned. But the episode planted a seed. Tongans had tasted the “decent speeds and stable connections” that a LEO satellite system could provide, even in remote villages. Interest in Starlink remained. By 2023, some Tongans acquired Starlink kits through unofficial means.
This caught the attention of Tonga’s Ministry of Communications. The government was also mindful of its domestic telecom operators, state-owned Tonga Communications Corp and private Digicel, which provide internet via fibre and 4G networks. Regulators wanted to avoid a Wild West scenario of unauthorised dishes.
Things came to a head in mid-2024 when a section of Tonga’s domestic subsea cable network went down, cutting off two island groups. In those outer islands, people and businesses turned to whatever connectivity they could, including some rogue Starlink setups. Initially, authorities moved to crack down on the unlicensed use.
However, they faced public pressure due to the ongoing outage. The compromise was a temporary six-month permit for Starlink starting in July 2024. This allowed Starlink to operate legally in Tonga for the first time, albeit under conditions set by the government. Officials said the permit was a “pivotal step” to address connectivity needs while a full license was being finalised.
Fast forward to mid-2025, and Tonga is fully on board with Starlink. The Ministry of Communications granted an official operating license to SpaceX, enabling Starlink to “deliver high-speed internet across Tonga” on a normal commercial basis.
Approvals, bans, and uncertainty
Navigating the regulatory landscape of the Pacific has proven to be one of Starlink’s biggest challenges. There is no one-size-fits-all approach, as each island nation has its own laws, telecom landscape, and priorities. The result is a patchwork of approvals, bans, and grey zones that can be confusing for consumers.
Countries like Fiji, Tonga, and Palau are welcoming Starlink. The governments of these nations have approved Starlink through formal licenses or interim permits. The advantage for consumers is obvious because where Starlink is approved, people can legally buy the equipment and pay the monthly fees in local currency, often via a domestic reseller, without fear of penalties.
Indeed, in approved markets, the Starlink website will ship a kit straight to your door. In countries like Vanuatu and Samoa, Starlink is being allowed but cautiously. Samoa’s regulator, for instance, said it might take up to two years to fully license SpaceX, but in the meantime, Samoans have been permitted to import Starlink kits for personal use. This creates a de facto temporary legality. People can get online with Starlink now while the bureaucracy catches up later.
Then there are the holdouts and ambiguous cases. Niue’s ban is one example of an explicit “no.” Another was Papua New Guinea’s legal saga. After the initial license announcement in January 2024, PNG’s National Information and Communication Technology Authority faced pushback. Critics argued the license was rushed, and by August, the courts put the license on hold pending a judicial review.
Until that’s resolved, importing or operating Starlink in PNG without special permission is technically illegal, and authorities showed they would enforce this by seizing unauthorised equipment at customs. Vanuatu signalled that any Starlink gear brought in outside the approved emergency use would be confiscated unless and until full authorisation is granted.
A Starlink terminal is essentially a transmitter/receiver, so it normally should be certified in each country. Some nations, like Samoa, initially banned Starlink partly because the equipment had not gone through this certification process, raising theoretical safety concerns.
Additionally, there’s the economic angle, since telecommunication is often a significant revenue source for Pacific governments, either through state-owned operators or licensing fees from private companies. If everyone suddenly buys internet service from a US-based company via credit card, how do local providers survive, and how do governments get their due? Niue’s insistence on licenses and talk of taxing such services stems from this concern.
For consumers, the regulatory diversity can be frustrating. In practical terms, a person on one island might set up Starlink and enjoy fast internet, while a person on the next island could get fined for doing the same thing. This has led to some creative workarounds. Some Pacific Islanders have taken advantage of Starlink’s roaming feature. They purchase the kit in a country where it’s authorised (like New Zealand or Fiji), then use it back home where it’s not officially allowed, essentially “roaming” on a foreign subscription.
Starlink’s signals don’t respect political boundaries, so the hardware will work as long as the location is within the satellite coverage footprint. This technical reality is running up against legal boundaries drawn on maps. It’s worth noting that the regulatory landscape in the Pacific is evolving quickly. As the Asia Times observed, governance of Starlink in the Pacific remains “a mixed bag,” and change is likely. Pacific governments talk to each other, and many are watching their neighbours’ experiments.
If Tonga’s partnership model proves successful, others may imitate it. If a ban like Niue’s proves untenable or unpopular, it may eventually soften. In the interim, consumers are advised to stay informed about their country’s stance. What is perfectly legal in Fiji or Tonga now could still be a grey area in places like the Solomon Islands or the Marshall Islands, for example, if formal approvals are pending.
The Pacific’s digital future
As global satellite providers race to connect the most remote corners of the planet, the Pacific Islands stand to be one of the greatest test cases—and beneficiaries—of this revolution. The vast oceanic distances and sparsely distributed populations have long made the Pacific a connectivity challenge. Traditional infrastructure alone was never going to be enough; there will likely always be villages beyond the reach of fibre-optic cables or even cell towers. Satellite internet, led by Starlink’s widespread rollout, is now filling those gaps. In doing so, it is reshaping the region’s digital infrastructure from above.
What might the Pacific’s connected future look like? We can imagine a hybrid network, where undersea cables link the main population centres, while constellations of satellites blanket the blue gaps in between, ready to link up any community or emergency responder that needs it. In this vision, an island struck by a cyclone can switch to satellite backup within hours, or a remote outer island can host an online workshop with experts in another country. Global satellite coverage could democratise internet access in a way that was simply not feasible before.
Starlink’s expansion across the Pacific Islands brings hope and challenges. While it provides high-speed internet to remote regions, it also sparks regulatory debates and hurdles. The technology offers significant benefits, especially in education and disaster response, but local governments must navigate complex legal landscapes. As more countries adopt Starlink, the region’s digital future seems brighter. However, each island’s unique approach to regulation means the path forward will be varied, and some obstacles are likely to remain.