BT Group has delayed the launch of its Starlink satellite broadband service over allegations it disrupted services used by Ukraine’s military

In late 2025, BT announced an agreement with Starlink, a wholly owned division of Elon Musk’s SpaceX, to bring high-speed satellite broadband to customers in rural and remote locations.

The service would tap directly into Starlink’s low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellation to reach areas not covered by BT’s fibre broadband network, Openreach. It is designed to offer download speeds of up to 280 Mbps.

At the time, BT said the service would launch in the latter half of 2026. However, BT’s CEO Allison Kirkby has now told the Financial Times that while the technology is ready to launch, the firm will wait until public scrutiny over Starlink’s recent disruptions to Ukraine’s military has died down.

She said BT was “cautious on how Starlink might be viewed at the moment considering what happened in Ukraine a couple of weeks ago” and would wait until “the noise has died down”.

In its war with Russia, Ukraine has routinely used both Starlink and Starshield – the military version of Starlink – to give its soldiers internet access on the frontline and help its jet-powered drones intercept long-range strikes.

But in October 2026, Ukraine’s access to the service was restricted after its military started targeting Russian oil refineries. While Musk was alleged to be behind the restriction, he took to X saying that Starshield was “owned and controlled by the US government”. The US government denied ordering the restrictions, which have since been fully restored.

Kirkby said “offering the best products for our customers means working with the best partners”, and that BT would launch satellite broadband with Starlink “in the coming months”. 

Meanwhile, Virgin Media O2 is already using Starlink in the UK. In February 2026, it launched its ‘Direct to Cell’ satellite mobile connectivity targeting rural areas, taking the network’s landmass coverage from 89% to 95%. 

In September 2026, SpaceX’s huge Starship deployed more satellites in orbit before an explosive splashdown. These satellites are the latest additions to a megaconstellation that Musk hopes will eventually consist of about 100,000 satellites.