Elon Musk 'waiting for approval from the government' to launch Starlink in Pakistan

Billionaire Elon Musk confirmed Saturday that Starlink applied to launch internet services in Pakistan but was "waiting for approval from the government."

It is in response to a post by a Pakistani netizen, Sanam Jamali, who said Starlink internet services could "leap" Pakistan "into the future, where every citizen has the chance to connect and grow."

"Please, let Starlink be our bridge to tomorrow," Jamali urged the billionaire, who also owns the electric vehicle company, Tesla.

Later, in a second post tagging Musk, Jamali claimed Pakistan had "approved Starlink!"

"Now is the perfect time to bring your transformative internet service to our nation. Millions await the connectivity, education, and opportunities Starlink could offer. Please, expedite Starlink's launch in Pakistan," she said.

Musk's confirmation of his intention to launch Starlink in Pakistan comes at a time when the South Asian nation topped the list of countries that suffered the most due to internet outages in 2024.

According to Top10VPN.com, an independent VPN reviewer, the global internet disruption lasted 88,788 hours last year which caused a financial loss of $7.69 billion.

It said Pakistan was the single most affected nation with $1.62 billion in losses, followed by Myanmar ($1.58 billion) and Sudan ($1.12 billion).