Lebanon Grants License to Starlink to Provide Nationwide Satellite Internet

Lebanon has granted a license to Elon Musk’s Starlink to provide satellite internet services throughout the country, Information Minister Paul Morcos announced late Thursday.

The license allows Starlink to deliver internet connectivity via satellites operated by SpaceX, the company founded by Musk. The announcement followed a telephone conversation about the company’s interest in Lebanon’s telecommunications and internet sectors between Musk and President Joseph Aoun nearly three months earlier.

The Cabinet also approved the naming of regulatory authorities for Lebanon’s electricity and telecommunications sectors during the same meeting, a move officials and international observers have long sought. Establishing an electricity regulator has been a key demand of international organizations and donors as part of wider efforts to curb corruption and inefficiency in state services.

Lebanon’s state-run utility, Electricite du Liban, is widely viewed as one of the country’s most wasteful institutions. Officials and analysts estimate the power sector wastes more than $1 billion a year, and the utility has cost state coffers roughly $40 billion since the end of the 1975–90 civil war. The naming of a regulator for what has been a politically contested sector had been expected for more than two decades but was repeatedly delayed.

The government’s approvals come as President Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, who took office earlier this year, have pledged to pursue reforms and fight long-standing mismanagement and corruption amid an economic collapse the World Bank has described as among the world’s worst since the 1850s. Lebanon has endured a sharp economic downturn since late 2019 that has eroded public services and household purchasing power.

Long, frequent power cuts have been a persistent problem for Lebanon and intensified after the economic crisis began. A 14-month conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that ended in late November also inflicted damage on electricity and other infrastructure in parts of the country.

In April, the World Bank said it would provide a $250 million loan intended in part to help ease electricity cuts. The newly named regulatory authorities are a condition often cited by international lenders and donors as necessary to improve sector governance and enable targeted investment and financing.

Lebanon’s licensing of Starlink marks a notable step in the country’s telecommunications landscape, which has been constrained by aging and politically influenced infrastructure. Satellite-based internet services can operate independently of much of the ground-based infrastructure that has deteriorated amid the economic crisis, potentially expanding options for connectivity in urban and rural areas alike.

Officials did not specify the timetable for Starlink’s rollout, pricing, or licensing conditions tied to local operators and regulators. Morcos said the license permits Starlink to operate across Lebanon but provided no further technical or commercial details in the announcement.

The Cabinet’s decisions reflect a broader push by Lebanese authorities to meet reform benchmarks set by international partners while seeking private-sector solutions to service gaps. The government’s next steps in implementing the regulatory framework for electricity and telecommunications, and the detailed arrangements for Starlink’s operations, will be closely watched by donors, lenders and residents affected by persistent service disruptions and economic hardship.