When A Telecom Agency suspects that there are citizens who violate the law by using foreign satellite services.
By now, most are familiar with SpaceX’s effort to bring internet access to every corner of the world. And they’re doing a pretty good job of it. With over 6000 Low Earth Orbit (LEO) Starlink satellites already in space, and as many as 6000 more going up on future launches, one would think that the whole world would be pretty happy about it, right? Or at least the “free countries”…but maybe not.
Well, that’s apparently not the case in Greenland. While SpaceX has a plethora of satellites that can serve all the Nordic Countries, it’s the government in Greenland that is the stumbling block for its citizens. As a matter of fact, it’s actually illegal to use Starlink there. The government has even started a crackdown this year on citizens using Starlink, and threatening them with fines for doing so.
Greenland is an autonomous, self-governing, part of the Kingdom of Denmark. Greenland has a democratically elected parliament, so it would seem to fit most anyone’s definition of a “free” country. Yet, in a throwback to what would almost seem to be the good old days of an absolute monarchy, the 56,789 citizens there are questioning why they aren’t getting a lot of say in what internet service is best for them.
Greenland Allows Only One Internet Provider
Greenland’s government currently allows only one internet provider, Tusass. As the official public internet provider, Tusass has a solid government-backed monopoly on internet service within the confines of Greenland’s 836,000 square miles.
After several mergers in the late 1990’s, Tusass became Greenland’s sole internet provider, with a monopoly on almost all areas of communication, even postal services. Tusass’s services cover all of Greenland, and the telecommunications conglomerate has a complete monopoly, mobile communications, internet communication services, and even the postal service there.
Expensive Infrastructure
Tusass initially relied on relay radio towers to provide wireless connectivity to remote communities, but it has since installed ground stations equipped to receive high-speed backhaul connectivity via satellites. Providing all of that infrastructure to a relative handful of people who equally share the cost isn’t cheap. Chief among public complaints is that Tusass internet in Greenland is not only outrageously expensive, it’s slow. The speeds, to a large degree, can be attributed to Tusass’s satellites, which are in a much higher orbit than SpaceX’s, creating a lot of latency in the signal.
Despite the high cost and slower service, the government of Greenland argues that allowing the use of foreign services would undermine the stability of Tusass overall, presumably threatening the country’s overall communications infrastructure. Additionally, by opening up satellite services such as Starlink, the government believes that even more of the infrastructure cost burden would be shifted to citizens who did not use Starlink, essentially depriving them of internet access.
Citizens Who Use Starlink Face Stiff Fines
Against this background, the Telecommunications Agency is focusing on possible breaches of the Greenland Self-Government’s exclusive rights with the use of satellite equipment and satellite services. According to a 2024 public notice issued by The Norwegian Telecom Agency, the agency will
“therefore, in connection with other supervisory activities in the field of radio communications, also supervise any illegal installations of satellite receivers and the use of satellite services, the head of the office informs.
-Telecommunications Authority of Greenland
Due to the interest and the suspicion that some citizens are already breaking the law, the Norwegian Telecommunications Authority has produced a guide that cuts the rules in this area out of cardboard, so that citizens do not risk being fined.
We have drawn up a guide to best ensure that citizens who do not know the telecommunications legislation do not buy satellite equipment and subscriptions to satellite services from anyone other than the concessionaire Tusass A/S, as they otherwise risk a fine, explains Louise Restorff Jacobsen .”
In a recent interview with Zurich-based The Polar Journal, Signe Ravn-Hojgaard, co-founder of the Think Tank For Digital Infrastructure said ” There is a fear that the new Starlink satellites will undermine the Greenland public internet provider Tusass. At the same time, there is hope that Starlink could provide better internet access to people in remote villages in Greenland, which is such an important thing these days.”
Ravn-Hojgaard went on to challenge the government argument for Tusass. ” First of all, these new technologies could be a way to provide public internet access to remote area where internet access is most costly, making the overall service cheaper. And secondly, they could help create in what in telecommunication language is called “redundancy”. That is to say, backup systems in case the main ones fail.”
Referring to technological changes such as those that are brought by Starlink, she went on to say “Greenland has to consider how it wants its future telecommunications structure to look….my advice would be to consider if this new technology provided by Starlink and others can be included.”
