Networks

Low-earth orbit broadband is a no-brainer for remote area connectivity, but a brain teaser for lawmakers and networkers

APRICOT 2026 Starlink can sometimes shift data more quickly than is possible on terrestrial networks, and improves connectivity in remote areas. But the space broadband service also presents new technical and regulatory challenges, according to speakers who took to the stage on Tuesday at the Asia Pacific Regional Internet Conference on Operational Technologies (APRICOT) in Jakarta, Indonesia.

The first discussion of Starlink at the event came from Katarina Stefanovic, a wireless access network optimization engineer with Telekom Srbija, who used a conference session dedicated to network management explains she used the RIPE Atlas internet measurement network to compare data transmission speeds between Europe and Asia using Starlink and connections that started with 4G/5G networks.

The first discussion of Starlink at the event came from Katarina Stefanovic, a wireless access network optimization engineer with Telekom Srbija, who used a conference session dedicated to network management to explain how she leveraged the RIPE Atlas internet measurement network to compare Round-Trip Time (RTT) and traceroute paths between Europe and Asia over Starlink and over connections delivered via Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) networks based on 4G/5G mobile infrastructure. Stefanovic focused on analyzing packet paths and routing behavior in order to evaluate intercontinental routing policies and end-to-end latency characteristics.

She found that in certain measurement scenarios Starlink achieved lower end-to-end RTT compared to connections originating from European FWA networks built on 4G/5G infrastructure, despite the satellite path often involving more logical hops.

Starlink ultimately relies on terrestrial transit – including Tier 1 backbone providers – to deliver traffic to its final destination. However, its architecture enables more dynamic selection of terrestrial egress points. By routing traffic across inter-satellite laser links before handing it off to the ground, Starlink can exit the satellite network at geographically advantageous locations, potentially reducing overall path length and latency.

Stefanovic thinks Starlink’s space-based transport segment effectively introduces an additional routing domain within the global internet topology. That domain doesn’t replace existing routing layers, but functions as a distinct routing fabric that influences path selection in ways that differ from purely terrestrial infrastructure.

In a later conference panel dedicated to the operational, policy, and resilience implications of internet access services delivered from low-Earth orbit, APNIC chief scientist Geoff Huston pointed out that Starlink can’t always land traffic in countries where its service is available. He said the countries surrounding Mongolia – China and Russia – are hostile to Starlink, so the space ISP lands traffic for Mongolian users in Japan then uses terrestrial links to reach the central Asian country.

Huston thinks that creates another issue, as Mongolian Starlink users therefore become reliant on Japanese regulators. He also asked conference attendees to consider that commercial aircraft are subject to the laws of whichever nation it touches down in, until its wheels leave the ground and the plane enters the jurisdiction of an airline’s home country. A Starlink user aboard the flight can therefore change jurisdiction during flight. Meanwhile, no nation has jurisdiction in space, where Starlink’s satellites circle.

Huston thinks regulators are aware that Starlink poses unusual legal challenges – and perhaps even a challenge to sovereignty – but that governments are mostly happy to ignore those issues because the service conveniently solves the problem of delivering broadband services to remote areas, an expensive job few nations have nailed.

Also on the panel, Doctor Ir. Ismail, the secretary general of Indonesia’s Ministry of Communications and Digital Affairs, confirmed the lure of space broadband for the nation, which spans 17,000 islands.

“The investment case is quite bleak for rural areas,” he said. Starlink offers a tantalizing alternative, and Dr. Ismail said SpaceX engaged sincerely with Indonesia’s government to address concerns about space broadband services allowing locals to circumvent regulations that prohibit online gambling, explicit material, and content felt to promote terrorism.

He said Starlink built a local network operation center and agreed to comply with Indonesian laws.

Job done? Not quite. Katarina Stefanovic said her research showed she can see 13 Starlink satellites available from Serbia, population 6.5 million, but just four in Jakarta to serve a city of over 40 million souls.

And Huston pointed out that Starlink reconnect users to a different satellite every 15 seconds, nearly always drops packets during that process, and that IP routing looks for alternative routes when networks don’t offer clean paths. “You need a protocol that can adapt to Starlink,” he suggested. ®