TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan is in talks with Amazon about potentially deploying the company’s Kuiper satellite internet network to preserve communications if China attacks.
To make internet infrastructure less vulnerable to attack, Taiwan has been looking to low-Earth orbit communication satellites as a backup to undersea cables. These nascent satellite internet service providers have proven essential during a crisis, as seen in Ukraine, which relied on Starlink to restore wartime communication in areas destroyed by Russia.
Technology Minister Wu Cheng-wen (吳誠文) told reporters Tuesday that Taiwan is considering multiple companies in North America and Europe. He said, “Amazon’s Kuiper is the most mature in the development stage so far, so we are discussing at this moment whether it’s possible to collaborate.”
Taiwan began exploring additional avenues for collaboration after French satellite operator Eutelsat’s OneWeb network was reportedly falling short of meeting capacity demands. Eutelsat partnered with Taiwan’s largest state-run telecommunications provider Chunghwa Telecom last year.
Wu said financial problems have delayed Eutelsat’s second-generation satellite development. He also said its OneWeb network bandwidth was too small for real applications.
Amazon’s Kuiper plans to launch its constellation of 3,000 satellites into space next year. It will compete with Elon Musk’s Starlink, which Taiwan officials have already excluded as an option.
A joint venture with Starlink is not possible because the company would not agree to let Chunghwa Telecom or another Taiwanese entity retain at least 50%, government officials said. Musk’s deep business interests and links to China also concerned Taiwanese officials.
In addition, Musk has made controversial statements on Taiwan’s political status, claiming the island was an “integral part” of China. A report also surfaced that Russian President Vladimir Putin asked Musk to disable Starlink over Taiwan as a favor to Chinese leader Xi Jinping (習近平).
Taiwan’s space agency is also attempting to establish a national satellite communications provider.
