Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) has piloted SpaceX's satellite internet service "Starlink."
On the 10th, according to ChosunBiz reporting, KEPCO conducted an internal demand survey early this year to use Starlink and recently introduced Starlink equipment. Starlink is characterized by using low Earth orbit satellites instead of ground base stations. Through this, it provides internet connections to communication dead zones such as mountainous areas and at sea. When base stations are damaged, Starlink can be used as an emergency communication method.
KEPCO has piloted Starlink equipment at three locations: its headquarters in Naju, South Jeolla, the South Seoul headquarters, and the Gyeonggi headquarters. It installed Starlink antennas on each building to establish a satellite communication network.
In an internal document, KEPCO said the reason for introducing Starlink was "to secure an emergency communication method in preparation for situations where communications are cut off due to disasters and calamities, and to validate in-house and external services using satellite communications, a core technology of 6G (sixth-generation mobile communications)," adding, "if a failure occurs in the ground communication network, it is expected to strengthen power system reliability as an emergency communication network." It also said, "if base stations are damaged, disaster safety networks (PS-LTE) and Inmarsat satellite phones cannot be used at disaster sites, so there is a need to supplement emergency communication methods."
As early as next month, KEPCO plans to expand Starlink to construction sites at substations and transmission lines. While most construction sites could use commercial wireless networks such as 5G (fifth-generation mobile communications) and LTE (fourth-generation mobile communications), some mountainous areas reportedly had no network coverage.
To eliminate coverage gaps at construction sites, KEPCO plans to deploy five vehicle-mounted Starlink units and two portable Starlink units across the Gangwon and North Gyeongsang headquarters. The vehicle-mounted Starlink attaches a Starlink terminal to a car, with the vehicle serving as a base station within a radius of about 50 meters. The portable Starlink is carried directly by a person with the Starlink terminal in a backpack to use the internet in areas where vehicles cannot access.
KEPCO also plans to use Starlink at transmission tower construction sites to build real-time CCTV that detects landslides. In deep mountainous regions, it had previously been impossible to install CCTV based on commercial networks, but the aim is to further strengthen safety management infrastructure at mountainous construction sites through Starlink. After a pilot operation, KEPCO plans to gather on-site feedback and then review whether to expand companywide.
Starlink launched commercial service in Korea in Dec. last year. SK telink and KT SAT are official Starlink resellers. Individuals can also use satellite internet with a Starlink terminal, but demand is low and it has not become a mass-market service. Among domestic corporations, some aviation and shipping companies such as Korean Air Lines, Hyundai Glovis, HMM, and Pan Ocean have adopted Starlink.