M.Skuodis: “The entire SpaceX group was in our focus” | Deal

Interview with Minister of Transport M.Skuodis 15 minutes stated that currently the satellite connection provided by Starlink Lithuania may be attractive to rural tourism farms and internet enthusiasts located in remote locations. However, in his opinion, these technological solutions should not be seen from today’s perspective, but from where they can be developed in the future.

“Our interest when we first contacted Starlink and SpaceX was that we could offer opportunities to consumers in Lithuania earlier than in other countries,” said the minister, who also mentioned Lithuania’s broader cooperation with this company.

– Did you want to invite a company that offered satellite Internet services or were you impressed by the name of E. Musko?

– You see, one thing is SpaceX itself. In fact, Lithuania has even taken some steps to improve its investment environment in order to be able to compete, in theory at least, for the same Tesla investments. Naturally, our target was the whole group and we contacted Starlink precisely because of the satellite Internet connection.

The question is very simple, we are investing a lot of money in laying cables underground and once we started working, the question naturally arose what the alternatives could be. We are committed (the government has set a goal and the common EU goal) to ensure by 2025 that all Lithuanian citizens, without exception, have the opportunity to use a high-speed internet connection.

It is always a question of what technological solutions can achieve this: this will be ensured by the development of the 5G connection, the standard fixed internet connection already makes it possible to guarantee this and it would be possible to provide that possibility with a satellite internet connection. And there is another thing to understand here: the technology is expanding and evolving very strongly, and if we now have a perception of satellite Internet, it may be completely different in a few years.

Our interest when we first contacted Starlink and SpaceX was that we could offer opportunities in Lithuania to consumers as soon as possible compared to other countries. Consumers will then decide whether or not they need such services and whether they are attractive.

– Regarding the attractiveness of satellite Internet services, unlike the United States, Canada or Russia, where there are many remote settlements, Lithuania has a small number of people living in those areas. So what do you think is the demand for these services?

– We will see on demand. The goal of all Starlink employees is to cover the entire world. They focus on remote areas. Perhaps it can be attractive to some rural tourism farm somewhere in the forest where there is no other Internet connection. It can be attractive to Internet enthusiasts. And more we will see.

I would say that we have to look not from today’s perspective at what these technology solutions can offer now, but where they can evolve. We will do our best to make Lithuania part of that technological development, so that we can test here whether it is attractive or not. Or maybe other tech solutions could make it more attractive. Maybe we can offer something too.

– How can satellite Internet technology evolve?

– I do not want to interpret and anticipate events very strongly, but naturally the services of such a company in Lithuania are very good news for Lithuania and, in general, they can say a lot about Lithuania, in terms of attracting other companies . Something very important here, it seems to me.

– What does the arrival of one of E. Musko’s companies bring to Lithuania in a reputational sense?

– Naturally, this is a very good sign, both for other investors and for the entire ecosystem. It should be understood that Lithuania, in terms of the fintech sector, does not offer a one-size-fits-all solution, it offers an ecosystem. Perhaps our people, the technology sector, will be able to offer ways to improve one service or another, because we have developers of various applications and so on. The presence of such a company is a very positive step.

– Did you say that Lithuania could have not only a customer service department, but also a competence center?

– Everything is possible. Naturally, everything in such cases depends on the decision of the companies, as well as the success that Lithuania will have and how quickly all the institutions will work. Not only institutions, but also the entire ecosystem, which helps these companies to provide services, come to Lithuania.

If such steps work, naturally we have many examples of service centers where you initially think of a small unit, perhaps a unit of several people to provide a service, and then expand into something much more.

Naturally, the world of technology is changing very fast, this company needs to be seen as a start-up that makes decisions very quickly, adapts to market changes and, naturally, Lithuania needs to do its best to be as flexible. and take advantage of all the compliments that we have around us.

– How many jobs will this company create?

– We haven’t talked about that yet. Let’s keep in mind that so far we are talking about providing a particular service. The question of specific jobs is not here yet: how much, where and how. But the first step is.

– Does Starlink come only to Lithuania or other Baltic countries?

– We’ll see how it goes. Due to the connection itself, there are many technological problems of all kinds, limitations, but the fact that we are the first in the region. And the aim of the company is to cover the whole world. I couldn’t say what the strategies of the company were for now, but I myself have interacted with the decision makers of the company and we were the first in the region to show such attention.

– His attention to E. Musko’s companies has been felt for several years, since he was Deputy Minister of Economy and Innovation. Why did you go out of your way to attract these companies to Lithuania?

– It is something very important that we should all achieve by concentrating our efforts in Lithuania: taking advantage of all the changes related to the economic transformation. One of the main changes that I discussed yesterday at the transport ministers meeting in Luxembourg was the development of electric mobility. Electric cars because they will inevitably dominate in the future.

And naturally, many companies are investing, for example, in electric car batteries, certain parts, technological solutions and Lithuania has the opportunity to be in the vortex of those solutions.

Tesla is probably the one that has changed our attitude and perception towards electric cars. Naturally, he once found himself the center of attention of many people and is the center of attention in many places.

– Could the fact that Starlink provides services in Lithuania facilitate the attraction of other E. Musko companies to Lithuania, for example Tesla?

– I didn’t bond so clearly. We are talking about separate services, different service segments, so I wouldn’t do direct interfaces. It seems to me that it is important to have as many and as diverse companies as possible in Lithuania. We would be at the center of technology development and innovation to have more options.

– You mentioned that you can expect more from SpaceX. What could it be?

– I would not like to comment yet. At this stage, it is related to certain technological solutions, which could be developed not as much as the services provided with the help of Lithuania.

– Opportunities for cooperation?

– Yes, but I would not like to comment further.

– Minister, did you invite E. Muska to Lithuania? Isn’t this American businessman planning to visit Lithuania?

– It seems to me that everyone invites E. Muska to Lithuania and would gladly accept him. So far, as far as I know, don’t really plan. The company is expanding rapidly around the world, I am glad that Lithuania is part of the initial stage of that development.