The Satellite Internet Race Hits Southeast Asia

• Amazon Leo’s US$11.6B acquisition of Globalstar brings direct-to-device satellite connectivity to a market that Starlink has been building in largely unopposed
• The deal arms Amazon with the spectrum and infrastructure to challenge SpaceX across Southeast Asia’s most underserved connectivity corridors

Satellite internet in Southeast Asia has, until recently, been a one-horse race. Starlink arrived first, moved fast, and signed the partnerships that matter. Now, with Amazon’s US$11.6 billion acquisition of Globalstar, the satellite internet landscape in the region will soon look fundamentally different.

Under the deal announced on April 14, Amazon will acquire Globalstar’s satellites, radio frequency spectrum, and operational expertise–enabling Amazon Leo to add direct-to-device (D2D) services to its low Earth orbit network and extend cellular coverage to customers beyond the reach of terrestrial networks. That capability is precisely what Southeast Asia needs, and precisely where Starlink has been building its regional foothold.

Starlink’s head start in the region

Starlink has not been idle in Southeast Asia. In February, Globe Telecom became the first operator in Southeast Asia to offer Starlink’s Direct-to-Cell service, leveraging a constellation of over 650 LEO satellites to address connectivity gaps in geographically isolated areas–with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. present at the signing.

Indonesia, with its more than 17,000 islands, remains one of the largest untapped markets in the world for satellite connectivity, with complex regulatory requirements slowing entry. Still, the demand case is impossible to argue with.

Malaysia, meanwhile, has been building out its Starlink reseller ecosystem. IEC Telecom launched operations in Kuala Lumpur in March 2026 as an authorised Starlink reseller, targeting connectivity gaps in East Malaysia and the maritime and energy sectors, its third APAC office after two decades in the region.

Starlink’s position across the region is real and established. SpaceX’s satellite internet service generated US$10.6 billion in revenue in 2025, with a 54% EBITDA margin, and serves more than 10 million paying subscribers across more than 100 countries. That is not a company that gets disrupted easily.

What Amazon Leo now brings to the table

The Globalstar deal changes the competitive calculus in two ways. First, it gives Amazon Leo the D2D spectrum rights it previously lacked, the ability to beam connectivity directly to a standard smartphone without specialist hardware. Second, it hands Amazon an established partner network and regulatory framework across multiple markets, compressing what would otherwise have been years of licensing negotiations.

According to Amazon’s and Globalstar’s respective filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Amazon Leo is scheduled to launch commercially in mid-2026. Amazon said it has already secured meaningful revenue commitments from enterprises and governments, including AT&T, Vodafone, DIRECTV Latin America, Australia’s National Broadband Network, and NASA.

Australia’s National Broadband Network, as an anchor customer, is particularly notable in the region. It signals that Amazon Leo is already embedded in APAC’s most mature broadband market before its commercial launch.

Panos Panay, Amazon’s SVP of Devices and Services, framed the ambition plainly: “There are billions of customers out there living, travelling, and operating in places beyond the reach of existing networks, and we started Amazon Leo to help bridge that divide.” Southeast Asia, with its dispersed archipelagos, rapid urbanisation pushing demand outward, and persistent rural connectivity deficits, is exactly the geography that pitch is written for.

Why MNOs in the region should be paying attention

The more immediate question for Southeast Asia’s telcos is what role they play in a world where both Starlink and Amazon Leo are actively courting them as distribution partners. All while simultaneously positioning themselves as the network layer beneath mobile services.

Vodafone’s agreement with Amazon Leo–signed to connect geographically dispersed mobile base stations back to core telecom networks, with the first sites expected to go live in 2026–illustrates the MNO partnership model Amazon is building. It is a backhaul and coverage extension play, not a direct consumer bypass. For now. The distinction matters to operators weighing whether Amazon Leo is a vendor or a long-term competitive risk.

Starlink’s Direct-to-Cell model in the Philippines is already doing something similar, providing MNOs with satellite coverage where their towers cannot reach, rather than replacing them. But as both constellations scale and D2D capability improves, the dependency dynamic between satellite operators and terrestrial carriers will get more complicated.

Southeast Asia’s governments have been careful about foreign-owned satellite infrastructure controlling critical connectivity. Having two credible LEO players rather than one changes that regulatory conversation and gives procurement teams, telecoms regulators, and rural connectivity programmes actual leverage when negotiating access terms.

Starlink currently holds the dominant position in Asia Pacific, but competition is increasing, and Amazon Leo’s agreement to transition Australia’s Sky Muster customers to LEO services is a sign of how quickly the incumbent’s market share can shift when a credible alternative arrives.

The satellite internet race in Southeast Asia is no longer Starlink’s to lose uncontested. Amazon just made sure of that.