SSB Raises Concerns Over Starlink’s Belize License Application, Citing BTL Stake Impact

The Social Security Board is one of several entities that expressed concern to the Public Utilities Commission over Elon Musk’s Starlink possible licensing in Belize. Last month, Starlink submitted its application to the PUC asking to become operational in Belize as an internet service provider.  While a majority have expressed support for the service and believe it will positively impact the country, the SSB says it will undermine its investment in the Belize Telemedia Limited. As a part of SSB’s push to expand its investment portfolio, it bought a one-third stake in the national telecommunication company some years ago. According to SSB’s Chief Executive Officer Dr. Leroy Almendarez, the move was a key aspect of the board’s efforts to keep contributions from increasing. Yesterday, he spoke to our newsroom about the company’s stance on Starlink. 

Dr. Leroy Almendarez, CEO, SSB: “Our ownership, our investment in Digi is about 34%. Now, for Digi to offer its services, think about the investment they need to make, the infrastructure they have in place. And so because it’s so capital intensive and the fact that we don’t have an expanding market, Belize’s market when you really think about it, it’s almost well, I won’t say it’s finite but they’re not the only player in the market. So let’s look at internet service, for example, and think about the fact that revenue, income, and all those that invest in the operational efficiency for it to be operationally efficient look forward to. Because remember, from our point of view that investment simply means we do look forward to our returns from our investment. Any decline in that so there are players, the internet service players in the market and of course this will require more technical discussions but there are ISPs operating in the market already. How many subscribers do we have? When you think about the number of subscribers we invest in one of the largest ones. And so therefore it is important for us to ensure and that’s where we have board representation. Members of the SSB board actually sit on Digi Board or Telemedia board as we all know it. And the purpose of that is to ensure that operationally or how they operate, keeping down administrative costs, all of those things are important to us. Yes, we want greater efficiency within the market but we want to ensure that there continuous to be returns on our investment. Because as I mentioned, we do not want to increase the rate of contribution to complement that or to supplement that. That’s where investment income comes into play.”

While the US-based company may fast-track access to internet services in rural areas, it may negatively impact local providers and dissuade further investment in the market. Dr. Almendarez also noted that, unlike BTL, Starlink has access to large coffers, which makes it a much larger competitor than local providers. 

Dr.Leroy Almendarez, CEO, Social Security Board: “Consumers should have choice and so it’s incumbent on these operators, these providers, to make sure that the service that is being provided is reliable. Because if it’s not reliable, we are so dependent on the internet. There’s so many things we do, all the digital transformation. Foundational the backbone of all of that is we require internet with bandwidth in order to sustain that. But how will they get there, and think about this, if we talk about Elon Musk one of the richest if not the richest man in the world and so therefore what would it really cost him even if it’s a subsidiary ? The economics of it, what does it really cost him to provide this service because he’s gonna be providing it by satellite but like I said I don’t want to get too technical into it because that requires some real technical discussions but again how reliable is that ? Is it the same satellite that is being used to provide service elsewhere ? You know that kind of thing. So if it costs them minimally when in fact it costs Digi so much more then we start to hear about service not bing reliable that is being provided by Digi and then that creates further migration because what basically happens is confidence is lost. Even though down the road or into the future knowing that there are certain variables that will affect the reliability of that service like cloud cover and things like that which again like I said has to be technically discussed then what happens and what if because of the novelty the newness,I mean most people move from even the other providers and just migrate towards Starlink you create a monopoly situation and the economics of that is if I become a monopoly I dictate prices within the market.”

Additionally, Almendarez stated that the board is ultimately trying to protect the investment of Belizean workers. It is to be noted that in a previous news report, we listed Bowen and Bowen as supporting Starlink.  We have since learned that the letter was sent in error and it has since been retracted.