Authorities in Hai Phong, a port city in northern Vietnam, have handed over 10 Starlink satellite internet terminals to the island special zones of Cat Hai and Bach Long Vi, in a deployment carried out with the local telecoms operator FPT Telecom and Starlink, the satellite broadband service run by SpaceX. The handover was reported on 14 October by Vietnamese outlets The Investor and Tuoi Tre, the same day SpaceX owner Elon Musk drew attention to it on X.
Key facts
- Ten terminals were deployed in the initial phase: six in Cat Hai and four in Bach Long Vi, according to Tuoi Tre.
- The package includes six months of free high-speed satellite internet service, both outlets reported.
- The Investor said the equipment was formally accepted on the Wednesday before publication, making Hai Phong one of the early localities in Vietnam to finish the rollout, alongside Hue city and Thanh Hoa province.
- Musk posted on X that “Starlink brings Internet access to remote places,” sharing a report on the Hai Phong partnership, according to Tuoi Tre.
Who actually deployed it
The two reports describe the partners differently. The Investor credits FPT Telecom, which it calls Starlink’s authorised distributor in Vietnam. Tuoi Tre names Hai Phong’s Department of Science and Technology as the coordinating body and lists the corporate signatories as Starlink Services Vietnam Co. Ltd. and FPT International Telecom Co. Ltd. Neither outlet reconciles the two descriptions, names a contract value, or says who owns the hardware after handover.
Tuoi Tre described the handover as making Hai Phong one of the first Vietnamese localities to sign a partnership with a company to deploy low Earth orbit satellite telecoms.
Where Vietnam sits in Starlink’s rollout
Starlink is the first foreign company authorised to pilot satellite internet in Vietnam and began offering service in the domestic market in August 2026, according to The Investor, which said Starlink and its partners are working with local authorities to extend coverage where mobile signal is weak or absent.
SpaceX tracks country-by-country status — live service, waitlist or pending regulatory approval — on its public Starlink availability map; on The Investor’s account Vietnam moved into the live column in August 2026. That partner-led, government-first entry contrasts with markets where Starlink is still waiting on spectrum and security clearances in India.
What was installed
Hardware specifications
- Terminal: Starlink Standard 4X kit, per The Investor.
- Weight: 2.9 kilograms.
- Power draw: an average 75 to 100 watts.
- Router: Wi-Fi 6 Router 3.
- Environmental rating: waterproof and rated to operate in wind speeds above 96 kilometres per hour.
Support and oversight
Han Duc Bien, director of FPT Telecom’s non-terrestrial solutions centre, told The Investor that the service gives the two zones backup telecommunications infrastructure, and that pairing Starlink’s low Earth orbit capacity with the operator’s 24/7 technical support would help keep communications running in emergencies. He said FPT Telecom also provides connectivity consulting, integration with existing infrastructure and configurations tailored to local operating conditions.
Nguyen Cao Thang, director of Hai Phong’s Department of Science and Technology, confirmed the handover to Tuoi Tre. The department said adoption of the technology should be accompanied by assessments of its practical effectiveness, compatibility with existing infrastructure, information security and data protection.
The free period — and the unanswered question after it
The free period is the only pricing detail either outlet gives, and it runs out six months after the mid-October handover. Neither report says who pays then, whether the island zones take out a subscription, what the 10 kits were worth, or what a Vietnamese subscription for a Standard 4X site costs. Neither cites Starlink’s own published rates for Vietnam, which SpaceX lists on its ordering pages rather than through the distributor, nor any government tariff for the service.
The question is not academic: the terminals sit on public premises, so the recurring bill would fall on the city, the management board that inherits the equipment, or FPT Telecom as distributor.
Why it matters
Both reports frame the terminals as a fallback for when terrestrial networks fail. Tuoi Tre said local authorities want the service to hold up during storms and natural disasters and to support emergency response, search and rescue, tourism and the marine economy, and that the two zones double as a pilot for assessing connection quality, reliability, cost and whether satellite links belong in public administration.
The coverage gap behind the push
The Investor tied the deployment to a national campaign against digital divides. Vietnam has 273 villages and hamlets with inadequate mobile coverage, 82 of them without grid electricity, the outlet said, and a further 44 locations — mainly schools, healthcare facilities and areas with difficult terrain — have unstable connectivity. A September report by the Central Steering Committee for Science and Technology Development, Innovation, and Digital Transformation called for priority locations to be covered by 30 October.
What the reports leave open
- Whether residents and visitors can use the connections or they are reserved for official and emergency use.
- Whether a second phase will add terminals in either zone, and on what timetable.
- When the pilot assessment is due to report, and to whom.
A closing note for African readers: this is a public-sector contract for fixed sites, not a consumer launch, and neither outlet mentions African markets. The nearest comparison Starlink News has covered is Zimbabwe, where health authorities have put Starlink links into 100 mobile health kiosks — terminals connecting public facilities beyond the reach of fixed lines, and likewise with no per-site cost disclosed.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where exactly were the six Starlink terminals in Cat Hai installed?
Tuoi Tre reported that the six Cat Hai units went to the special administrative area’s People’s Committee headquarters, the Viet Hai and Gia Luan ferry terminals, and the Quai To, Van Ta and Tra Bau stations. The newspaper said sites were chosen on connectivity need, including coastal areas and ferry terminals where terrestrial telecoms infrastructure is still limited.
Who will look after the equipment once the handover is finished?
Cat Hai is expected to assign management, operation, upkeep and maintenance of the terminals to the Cat Ba Bay Management Board, according to Tuoi Tre.
What was tested before the terminals were accepted?
Tuoi Tre reported that during acceptance testing the participating units checked the equipment, network connectivity, signal quality, access speeds and connection stability at each deployment site.
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