Govt in talks with Starlink, no deal reached - Ciriani

(ANSA) - ROME, MAR 13 - The government is in talks with Elon Musk's SpaceX to use their Starlink satellites for communications but no agreements have been reached, Minister for Relations with Parliament Luca Ciriani told the Senate on Thursday in response to a parliamentary question posed by the opposition, centre-left Democratic Party.
    "The government is evaluating the hypothesis of integrating satellite technology as a complement to existing infrastructures for more remote areas with Starlink and other operators," Ciriani said.
    "In the specific case of Starlink, discussions are underway with a number of Italian regions, in the North, Centre, and South, in order to test the provision of a 'space-based service' aimed at remote areas, or those without terrestrial infrastructure.
    "In any case, as already stated in the statement released by the premier's office on January 6, we reiterate that no contracts have been signed, nor have any agreements been concluded between the Italian government and the Space X company for the use of the Starlink satellite communications system to cover the most remote areas of the territory".
    PD leader Elly Schlein on Sunday reiterated her criticism of the hypothesis that Premier Giorgia Meloni's administration could reach an agreement with SpaceX after the world richest man talked about denying Ukraine access to it.
    In a post on X, Musk said Kyiv's "entire front line would collapse if I turned it off". He subsequently said he had no intention of doing that.
    Schlein said that Musk was "proving that the only thing he wants is to extend his own economic empire, even if this means doing so on the back of an aggrieved people who are currently undergoing yet another offensive.
    "How can Giorgia Meloni want to hand over the keys to Italy's national security to Musk after hearing his latest, very serious words?" continued the secretary of the centre-left group.
    "The government should change course immediately...
    "Without an efficient, competitive European satellite network, European defence can never exist". (ANSA).