Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski has threatened Elon Musk to reconsider the countryʼs spending on Starlink satellite communications. This concerns the nearly $50 million a year that Poland spends on Starlink terminals for Ukraine.
“Hey, Elon Musk, big man! Stop discriminating against Polish Starlink users, otherwise we may reconsider the decision to pay you $50 million a year for your services,” Sikorsky wrote in X.
This is how he reacted to Starlinkʼs decision to exclude Poland from the common European roaming area, which covers more than 30 countries, including Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Lithuania, writes Politico.
In this zone, users can transport terminals between countries without additional restrictions for international use. Polish customers, however, will now have additional requirements when traveling abroad.
Polandʼs digitalization minister, Krzysztof Gawkowski, also criticized SpaceX, the parent company of Starlink. He said Polish customers should not be considered "second-class customers" and called for an explanation of what local regulations led to the new restrictions.
The new rules apply to new Polish customers from July 14, and from August 17 will also apply to those who already use Starlink.
- This is not the first conflict between Sikorsky and Musk over Starlink. Last year, Musk replied to a Polish minister: "Shut up, little man", after Sikorsky said that Warsaw could look for alternative satellite communication providers if Musk became an unreliable partner.
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