Starlink on the Steppe
Kazakhstan announced last month that it had settled an agreement with Starlink to allow private use of the company’s satellite terminals starting later this year.
In December, it looked like Kazakhstan’s year-long flirtation with Starlink was terminal. But last month, Kazakhstan Ministry of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace (MDAI) announced that it had come to an agreement with Starlink, a subsidiary of Elon Musk’s SpaceX that provides satellite internet connectivity, to launch public sales of Starlink’s terminals in the third quarter of 2025.
The ministry had published a draft order for public comment in December 2024 which proposed effectively banning Starlink, along with three other satellite providers – the British Inmarsat, UAE-based Thuraya, and the American company Iridium – on the back of an existing 2012 national security law that prohibits the operation of communications networks in Kazakhstan if their control centers are based outside of the country.
The essence of the law rests in the concept of digital sovereignty, which seeks to bring under state control the data of its citizens, as well as the digital hardware and software used in the modern era.
In Central Asia, this has typically played out in battles between governments and the international social media giants over data localization – battles that regional governments tended to ultimately back down from.
For example, in July 2021 – six months after a data localization law went into effect and was essentially ignored – Uzbekistan blocked access to Skype, Twitter (since rebranded as X), WeChat, and Vkontakte. In November 2021, the list of blocked sites expanded to include Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Moi Mir, Odnoklassniki, Telegram, and YouTube.
As I wrote at the time:
Losing easy access to this later group generated a fierce outcry. In particular, the block on Telegram was especially surprising for Uzbeks, given that everyone from media figures to government agencies to businesses to average citizens use the Russian messaging platform.
Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev quickly fired the information technologies minister, two of his own advisers, and the head of the media regulator. The blocks on Telegram, Facebook, Odnoklassniki, and YouTube were quickly rescinded and most of the other blocks were lifted by August 2022 (with the exception of TikTok).
In Kazakhstan, authorities have been somewhat less heavyhanded in blocking social media sites writ large, although at times of increased tension – such as the during the January 2022 protests and ensuing violence – all communications, including internet services, have been severed. In 2018, when some users complained of difficulty accessing Facebook, then-Minister of Information and Public Development Dauren Abayev (now Kazakhstan’s ambassador to Russia) bizarrely suggested the problem was that Facebook just wasn’t popular anymore.
Mobile phone and other smart devices have also been an area of focus, with a drawn out implementation of regulations requiring that all users register the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number for their devices with the state. In January 2017, RFE/RL’s Kazakh Service reported on “new legislation” requiring “all mobile phones to be registered with a government database.” In January 2019, another smartphone related regulation came into play: the requirement that foreigners using local networks (i.e. buying a local SIM card rather than roaming on their typical carrier) also register their devices.
As of March 2025, the MDAI introduced new rules that categorize smartphones into three lists – white (legal), gray (suspicious), and black (illegal). Smartphones on the black list – those with stolen or counterfeit IMEI codes – will be bricked, rendered unable to connect to internet network services. Telecoms are now required to verify IMEI codes and disconnect illegally purchased or unregistered devices. Those that land on the gray list will have 30 days to confirm their device’s legitimacy.
The theme has been one of tracking and control. This presents a challenge for satellite providers, which often brand themselves as free from control. This marketing has never been entirely true, as companies like Starlink seek to enter more restrictive, but lucrative, markets by making deals with governments.
Kazakhstan started testing the waters with Starlink in October 2023 with the launch of a trial program that aimed to eventually bring satellite internet services to around 2,000 rural schools. By August 2024, 1,731 schools were connected via Starlink terminals.
At the same time, Kazakh authorities made it clear that private use of Starlink terminals was prohibited.
MDAI Minister Zhaslan Madiyev said in announcing the deal with Starlink last month: “Now we have reached an agreement, [Starlink] will operate in accordance with the requirements of national legislation in the field of information security and communications… The necessary work will be carried out this year, and residents will be able to officially and legally connect to satellite Internet.”
It’s not clear from the available statements and reporting precisely how Starlink will comply with Kazakhstan’s various laws, or how those laws will be amended to permit private use of Starlink (or, for that matter, whether Starlink will be an exception or new rules will apply to other satellite connectivity providers too).
Although Astana has sought control over the digital lives of its citizens, the Kazakh government simultaneously has recognized the importance of strengthening the country’s digital infrastructure and connectivity, especially in service of bridging the urban-rural divide. A modern economy is a connected one.