Starlink ruffles some feathers in Italy's telco industry

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Starlink's arrival seems to have ruffled some feathers in Italy's telco industry.

Last month, Italy's Undersecretary to the Prime Minister's Office, Allessio Butti, shared that the country was preparing to test SpaceX's Starlink services in remote areas. Italy's telco association recently urged the government to review regulations for low-earth orbit satellite broadband operators before Starlink's arrival. 

A lobby group in Italy called Asstel submitted a document to the government outlining its concerns about Starlink. 

Asstel states in the document that Italy's existing rules for low-orbit satellite broadband operators do not consider SpaceX's business model, which offers consumers devices to customers directly. The lobby group also pointed out that SpaceX's Starlink services compete directly with local telecom operators. 

Asstel noted that the government should consider regulations over the use of frequencies and how it can enforce the rules to encourage companies to comply with them. The lobby group also brought up the storage of sensitive data, suggesting that the government should impose regulations for local storage. 

According to Reuters, Asstel's document was an internal memo shared with a few politicians in Italy. 

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