Kazakhstan licenses Starlink and OneWeb for commercial service

Starlink and OneWeb obtained the licences they needed on 2 October 2026 and moved from pilot operation to commercial communications services in Kazakhstan, the digital minister told Kurultai deputies, Kazinform reported on 22 October.

Zhaslan Madiyev, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development, gave the account in a reply to a query from deputies of the Kurultai. Two more low-orbit operators, Amazon Leo and China's Shanghai SpaceSail, are expected to enter the market in 2027, the same report says.

Both companies had first met the technical requirements for commercial communications services, the report says: requirements on special investigative measures, connection to the telecommunications network management centre and the construction of ground infrastructure. It does not give the terms, duration or fees of the licences, or name the legal entities that hold them.

Where the two systems are used

OneWeb opened a ground station in the village of Kokterek in the Almaty region in October 2024 and has provided service in Kazakhstan since January 2025, Madiyev said. Under the Accessible Internet national project, 329 remote villages were connected to OneWeb in 2025, and the number of villages with public Wi-Fi points running on OneWeb terminals rose to 362 in 2026. Starlink terminals are installed in 1,798 schools, and residents and businesses in remote areas and at tourist sites also use the service, Kazinform reported.

On the project's own count, satellite accounts for most of its connections so far. The Tenge, which reported the same reply, said 391 rural settlements had been connected under the project to date, 44 by fibre-optic lines and 347 by satellite. Of the 3,008 settlements in the long-term plan, 2,747 are to receive fibre and 261 satellite links, and satellite service for some villages is treated as a temporary solution until fibre is built, the outlet reported. Madiyev also said satellite links can provide backup communications if ground infrastructure is damaged, Kazinform reported.

How the timetable moved

In January the government said that in satellite internet, "in addition to the three current operators, the entry of two foreign companies is expected", in its summary of Madiyev's report to a session chaired by Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov. It named neither the operators nor a date. The same summary said internet access would appear on Kazakhstan Temir Zholy trains and Air Astana aircraft.

In May, Kapital.kz reported an earlier reply by the minister to deputies. It said 505 rural settlements had been given internet access by satellite under the Accessible Internet project, 329 through OneWeb and 176 through Starlink, that more than 1,800 remote rural schools had been connected through Starlink since 2023, and that 27 passenger routes of Kazakhstan Temir Zholy were to get internet through OneWeb and Starlink by the end of 2026. Separately from the reply, the outlet noted that talks had been reported on SpaceSail entering the Kazakh market in 2026. The October reply gives 2027 for both newcomers.

The counts do not line up. The 505 settlements with satellite access under the project in May are more than the 347 satellite connections The Tenge reported in October, and May's figure of more than 1,800 schools connected through Starlink is above October's 1,798. Neither reply, as reported, reconciles them.

What the reply leaves out

Amazon's network, then called Kuiper, and Shanghai Spacecom Satellite Technology, the company behind the SpaceSail constellation, were among four low-orbit partners the government listed in July 2025, as Corridor Signal's report on the village connection programme sets out. The October reply, as reported, does not say whether Amazon Leo or SpaceSail has applied for a licence, or whether gateways in Kazakhstan will carry traffic for neighbouring countries. It also does not mention Beeline Kazakhstan's satellite-to-mobile service with Starlink, launched in September.

Three items to watch:

• publication of the licence terms for Starlink and OneWeb, which neither report gives;
• licence applications by Amazon Leo and SpaceSail before their expected entry in 2027;
• the national project's year-end count against its plan to connect 2,131 villages in total by the end of 2026, including those connected in 2025, as The Tenge reported it.