{"id":118030,"date":"2024-12-17T08:43:50","date_gmt":"2024-12-17T04:43:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abcmedia.am\/?p=118030"},"modified":"2024-12-17T12:52:01","modified_gmt":"2024-12-17T08:52:01","slug":"forbes-elon-musks-starlink-will-disable-azerbaijans-capacity-to-shut-down-armenias-internet-access-during-a-time-of-conflict","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abcmedia.am\/en\/politics\/118030\/","title":{"rendered":"Forbes: Elon Musk&#8217;s Starlink will disable Azerbaijan\u2019s capacity to shut down Armenia&#8217;s internet access during a time of conflict"},"content":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><body><p>The closing ceremony of Armenia&rsquo;s World Congress on Innovation and Technology (WCIT) in October this year was charged with anticipation. Attendees expected to hear directly from SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, a man whose exploits in space exploration and electric vehicles are matched only by his penchant for redefining digital connectivity, Forbes writes. But instead of Musk&rsquo;s face lighting up the screen, Armenian-American entrepreneur Razmig Hovaghimian took the stage, bearing Musk&rsquo;s words in a statement. &ldquo;Hello everyone,&rdquo; Musk&rsquo;s message began, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m sorry I can&rsquo;t make it to Yerevan this time, but hopefully next time in person.&rdquo; He followed this with a dose of enthusiasm tailored to his audience: &ldquo;Excited about bringing Starlink to Armenia and working with the local tech community on some exciting projects&mdash;from space exploration to developing open and transparent AI that pushes the boundaries of human understanding.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>As noted, Starlink would ensure Armenia&rsquo;s internet connectivity during conflicts with its neighbors, particularly Azerbaijan, with which it has ongoing territorial disputes and periodic military tensions, especially over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.<\/p>\n<p>According to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/craigsmith\/2024\/12\/16\/elon-musks-stars-over-armenia\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forbes<\/a>, five years ago, Azerbaijani businessman Nasib Hasanov&rsquo;s NEQSOL Holding bought Caucasus Online, which owns the 1,200-kilometer Caucasus Cable System running along the bottom of the Black Sea and connecting the region to Europe. This has fueled concerns about Azerbaijan&rsquo;s influence over Armenia&rsquo;s digital infrastructure. Starlink could disrupt this dynamic. According to analysts, this will disable Azerbaijan&rsquo;s capacity to shut down or slow down Armenia&rsquo;s internet access during a time of conflict.<\/p>\n<p>Starlink&rsquo;s arrival, while a technological leap, does not resolve these entrenched geopolitical dynamics. Instead, it offers Armenia a tool to enhance its independence, both digitally and economically. Starlink&rsquo;s resilience during conflicts makes it a strategic asset, as demonstrated in Ukraine where it maintained critical communications infrastructure amidst Russian attacks.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The closing ceremony of Armenia&rsquo;s World Congress on Innovation and Technology (WCIT) in October this year was charged with anticipation. Attendees expected to hear directly from SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, a man whose exploits in space exploration and electric vehicles are matched only by his penchant for redefining digital connectivity, Forbes writes. But [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":117964,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[35,43,95,98,47,57],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-118030","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","category-world","category-azerbeijan","category-other-en","category-society","category-top-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abcmedia.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118030","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abcmedia.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abcmedia.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abcmedia.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abcmedia.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=118030"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/abcmedia.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118030\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abcmedia.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/117964"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abcmedia.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abcmedia.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=118030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abcmedia.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=118030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}