Elon Musk Offers Free Starlink for Sumatra Disaster Relief: It's Unjust to Profit from Disasters

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The disruption of cellular communication and internet access due to floods and landslides in the regions of Aceh, North Sumatra, and West Sumatra has led to an increased demand for Starlink internet services. Starlink has decided to provide its services free of charge for users affected by the disaster in Sumatra.

In a post on his official account on X, SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk stated that SpaceX indeed has a standard policy to provide free internet services through Starlink in the context of any natural disaster.

According to him, it is unethical for SpaceX to charge for the service. "We do provide Starlink for free whenever a natural disaster occurs anywhere. It is inappropriate for us to profit from a disaster," Musk stated on Saturday (29/11/2025) in the early hours WIB.

The announcement of free services for users affected by the disaster in Sumatra was made on the official Starlink website under the description "Indonesia Flood Response."

Starlink has announced that it will provide free services for both existing and new users in the affected areas until the end of December 2025. Starlink is also collaborating with the Government of Indonesia to expedite the provision of internet terminals and restore connectivity in the areas most impacted by the disaster.

The provision of this free service applies to all users in the affected areas. For active customers, Starlink will directly apply a credit for the free service to the users' accounts.

Free access is also granted to customers who are in a suspension period or temporarily halting their internet service. They can automatically reactivate and access free services during the applicable period.

President Prabowo Subianto has sent Starlink along with generators to support emergency communications access.

Starlink also provides free access for new customers in disaster-affected areas. This free service will automatically be activated in the billing tab of each account.

"After you purchase and activate the service, please create a support ticket and include the keyword Indonesia Flood Support," it says on the official Starlink website.

According to data from the Ministry of Communication and Digital (Kemenkomdigi), as of Thursday (November 27, 2025), there were a total of 34,660 telecommunications transmitter sites in North Sumatra, 495 of which were out of service due to the flooding. In Aceh, with the same number of sites, 799 were affected.

The disruptions primarily occurred due to the interruption of electricity supply from the State Electricity Company (PLN) to these sites. In West Sumatra, there are a total of 3,739 existing sites, and 16 of them are down due to flooding.

The Ministry of Communication and Digital (Kemenkomdigi) stated that mobile telecommunications operators are working to restore the affected sites. They plan to use generators as an alternative power source until electricity returns to normal. However, this effort has also been hampered. Mobilization of the generators has been hampered by access to the flooded sites.

The government is also utilizing Starlink to restore disrupted cellular and internet communication lines. President Prabowo Subianto has sent Starlink along with generators to support emergency communication access, particularly to the Tapanuli Tengah region (North Sumatra), which is still completely disconnected from electricity and water access.

"Starlink has been distributed to local governments, refugee camps, and the TNI/Polri Task Force. In the next 1-2 days, we will focus on evaluating the search and rescue of victims, distributing logistics, and reopening disrupted transportation and communication routes," said the Head of the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) Lieutenant General TNI Suharyanto at a press conference on Friday (28/11/2025).