BwebweikiNET Ltd (BNL), Kiribati’s state-owned telecommunications company, has announced the activation of Internet services through its Starlink Community Gateway, providing greater connectivity to the small Pacific Island nation.

“The Starlink Community Gateway will enable faster, more reliable connectivity to remote communities, ensuring that every Kiribati [citizen] has the opportunity to participate in the digital economy,” said Ioane N. Koroivuki, CEO of BwebwerikiNET, in a statement.

“We are proud to deliver this progress for our people and our nation.”

Starlink is under performance monitoring to establish stability and reliability metrics ahead of formal acceptance into BNL’s operational network portfolio. Once integrated, BNL said the initiative will harden its network resilience and improve service redundancy and broadband access across the country, coordinated with retail service providers.

Starlink’s network tools will aid in BNL’s goals to connect the nation, complementing the country’s national fiber and cable infrastructure being rolled out by the Kiribati Connectivity Project (KCP).

Kiribati is a republic in Micronesia comprising just 313 miles of land across its constituent islands. 119,00 people live there, and the country has the lowest GDP of any sovereign state in Oceania, with much of its income arriving from overseas through fishing licenses, maritime remittance, international aid, and a small tourism industry hoping to attract interest as a destination for Pacific cruises.

BNL manages the Southern Cross NEXT Cable Landing Station, the East Micronesia Cable System Cable Landing Station, and the National FTTH and Starlink Community Gateway.

While Starlink can offer services directly to consumers through small antennas, Starlink community gateways offer Internet transit to other Internet service providers, providing “fiber-like speeds” to communities.

The satellite firm says the service, which requires large radome-clad antennae, offers speeds of up to 10Gbps up and down. Prices for the gateways start at $75,000/Gbps per month with a one-time upfront cost of $1.25 million.

Starlink first deployed a community gateway to the island of Unalaska, Alaska, for local provider OptimERA xG.

The Broadband Systems Corporation of Rwanda, Kativik Regional Government of northern Canada, Tuvalu Telecom, Nauru’s Telikom (aka Neotel), FSM Telecom in Micronesia, and CNT in the Galapagos have also deployed Starlink community gateways.

These are the kind of wins that Starlink is looking to rack up. Connecting unconnected nations that are willing to deploy public money and double as attractive destinations.

A big argument in favor of low-earth orbit (LEO) providers has been their moral imperative to bridge the digital divide in developing nations, connecting the underserved billions across the world, and delivering greater economic value by bringing them online, thereby raising living standards.

When contracts are generous and the nations offering them are poised to industrialize quickly, the motivations for LEO providers to remain committed to connectivity are obvious. However, connectivity non-profits and charities often question the fair-weather generosity of providers who are economically inclined to commit to poorer regions for the PR boost, before losing interest in favor of customers with deeper pockets.