On January 14, Bloomberg reported that Elon Musk’s SpaceX is currently providing free Starlink satellite Internet services in Iran. This comes after deadly protests broke out in Iran and it suffered from internet outages that lasted for days.
Ahmad Ahmadian, executive director of the American humanitarian technology organization Holistic Resilience, said that SpaceX has waived Starlink subscription fees in Iran, so people in Iran can use the service for free as long as they have a receiving device. Whole Willful is dedicated to helping Iranians gain access to the internet.
A person familiar with Starlink operations confirmed that SpaceX has provided Starlink services for free in Iran.
Starlink's provision of services in Iran and other conflict zones highlights how the fast-growing internet service has become a soft power tool for Musk and the U.S. government. U.S. President Trump has urged Iranian people to continue protests and called on Starlink to help restore communications. Although Starlink is banned in Iran, some Iranians are already using it.
"We'll probably talk to Elon because you know he's very good at this type of thing. He owns a very good company, so we'll probably reach out to Elon," Trump said on Air Force One on Sunday in response to a reporter's question about whether he would seek assistance from Musk. "In fact, I'm going to contact him as soon as I finish talking to you."
As of press time, SpaceX has not commented on this.