British company BT delays Starlink internet launch amid outages affecting Ukrainian military

British telecommunications company BT is postponing the launch of a joint service with Starlink amid the controversy over satellite connectivity outages in Ukraine.

Reporting this is the Financial Times.

BT CEO Ellison Kirkbi said the service is already ready, but the company is waiting for the situation around Ilon Mask and Starlink to calm down.

“We are cautious about how Starlink may be perceived right now, given what happened in Ukraine a few weeks ago,” — Kirkbi said.

What is known about the BT and Starlink partnership

BT announced the partnership with Starlink in November 2025 and planned to launch the service in the second half of 2026.

The company wants to provide satellite internet to customers in areas not reached by its Openreach fiber network, which currently covers roughly 25 million homes.

In a statement on the evening of November 9, Kirkbi clarified that BT plans to launch satellite internet with Starlink “in the coming months.” She also noted that Starlink is significantly ahead of competitors and is interested in the partnership.

The current pause concerns a separate product — home satellite internet for BT and EE customers.

Starlink is also already affecting assessments of internet availability in the UK. According to regulator Ofcom, as of January 2026 some 39,000 premises did not have access to a fixed connection with at least 10 Mbps download and 1 Mbps upload.

Taking into account affordably priced satellite services, that number fell to roughly 4,000 premises. The regulator explained this mainly by the emergence of cheaper satellite tariffs and specifically highlighted Starlink’s offers.

What is known about Starlink restrictions for Ukrainian forces

On the night of October 14, SpaceX limited the operation of Starshield military-service terminals while in motion. According to Serhii Beskrestnov, the connection was restricted at speeds above 160 km/h. Ukrainian forces were not warned about the changes, which caused a number of missions to fail. This affected the use of the connection on long-range UAVs, interceptor drones, and aircraft.

On October 15 military personnel told AIN that Starshield had resumed operation, but the connection remained unstable while in motion. One interlocutor reported that the day before, in some units it disappeared already at about 75 km/h, and after restoration it could drop out at speeds over 110 km/h. According to him, the connection had been more stable before the restrictions.

The restrictions specifically concerned Starshield — a service for government and defense customers that uses the Starlink satellite network. Ilon Mask said that limits on its use are determined by the U.S. military and the U.S. president.

Against this backdrop, Ukraine is looking for other ways to provide communications for combat tasks. On November 8, the head of Serhii Prytula’s fund, Andrii Shuvalov, told AIN that, with the fund’s support, an alternative solution is already being tested and a large fundraising drive is being prepared to purchase it. The technology in question is one that Ukraine will be able to produce and develop independently.

Read also: Russia ramps up use of EW against Starlink — Flesh named the manufacturer and the price of the complex at $1.5m