Falklands Government Press Statement: FIG and Sure Reach VSAT Licensing Agreement

FIG PRESS STATEMENT

30 October 2025

FIG and Sure Reach VSAT Licensing Agreement

The Falkland Islands Government (FIG) and Sure South Atlantic (Sure) have reached an agreement to allow Sure to continue to discharge its universal service obligations under its exclusive telecommunications licence, alongside the more permissive VSAT licensing scheme approved by Executive Council in June this year. This also paves the way for the re-opening of personal VSAT licence applications with the new policy and fee level in place.

The agreement involves FIG paying money to Sure to compensate for the loss of broadband revenues it can demonstrate it was making before the introduction of widespread Starlink usage. The basis for these payments is that Sure’s exclusive licence, combined with the previous more restrictive and expensive VSAT licensing regime, meant that whilst previously there was limited threat to Sure’s business from VSAT usage, this position has now fundamentally changed as a result of the new VSAT regime.

In approving this scheme, Executive Council was alive to the fact that Sure had brought judicial review proceedings against the Government. Although FIG is confident in the lawfulness of its actions on VSAT licensing, a commercial settlement is considered preferable to a potentially long and resource-intensive legal route, which could delay the implementation of the new VSAT licensing regime, and require active enforcement of the pre-existing VSAT licensing policy. This agreement means that the judicial review will not proceed.

Although the detailed workings of the scheme are commercially confidential, Executive Council determined it was right to inform the public of the potential sums involved, as this is taxpayer money. Over the remainder of the exclusive licence period, Sure will be eligible to claim up to £6.167m. However, the actual amount claimed will be dependent on Sure evidencing losses against a pre-Starlink baseline. As such, the more people retain or take up Sure broadband packages, the less will be claimed.

Alongside this new agreement Sure will launch two unlimited residential broadband packages priced at £50 and £115 a month, exclusive of line rental, for unlimited use. The different prices reflect the two different speeds of the packages, which will be available from 1 December 2025 and will replace all existing broadband packages for new customers. Existing customers on packages sized ‘medium’ and above will be able to retain their existing arrangements if they wish.

Existing extra small and small broadband packages will be phased out by 31 January 2026, with customers on these packages being given a two-month transitional period from the 1 December 2025 to move to a Sure unlimited package or to VSAT services with a licence. There will be some other changes on the same timetable, such as adjustments to monthly line rental and an amendment to broadband hotspot use for unlimited package holders, which will be communicated by Sure.

FIG is aware that there are members of the community who are currently on an extra small or small Sure package and who may not be in a position to afford the new unlimited broadband rates. A broadband support scheme has therefore been approved by Executive Council, to allow a small number of households to receive the lower-level unlimited Sure broadband package at a subsidised rate of £20 a month. A separate press release on this, including eligibility criteria and how to apply, will be issued shortly. FIG anticipates dealing with all initial applications for this scheme before the 1 December launch of Sure’s new packages, to ensure no member of the community is denied access to broadband on the basis of affordability.

The Communications Regulator will now license Starlink to operate in the Falkland Islands, and will issue separate communication on the re-opening of applications for personal VSAT licences at the new fee rate and under the new policy.

ENDS