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Meloni denies SpaceX talks during Trump meeting

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Italy considers Starlink for remote internet access

Starlink has operated in Italy since 2021

(Adds details after second paragraph)

ROME, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni

did not discuss the issue of Elon Musk's SpaceX supplying Italy

with its Starlink services during her weekend visit to the

United States, her office said in a statement on Monday.

"The prime minister's office categorically denies,

considering it ridiculous, that SpaceX was a topic during the

meeting with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump," Meloni's office

said in a note.

Italy's conservative prime minister made a surprise trip to

Florida on Saturday to meet Trump at his Mar-a-Lago residence

before his inauguration on Jan. 20.

Bloomberg News reported on Sunday that Italy's discussions

with SpaceX, "which had stalled until recently, appeared to move

forward" after Meloni's meeting with Trump.

The PM's office denied any agreement had been reached on the

supply of new services.

"Contacts with SpaceX are part of regular discussions that

state departments have with companies, in this instance those

that provide protected connections such as data encryption," it

said.

Meloni has developed a strong relationship with tech

billionaire Musk, a close ally of Trump.

Musk's aerospace business SpaceX owns Starlink, a

telecommunications provider that relies on a network of low

Earth orbit satellites.

Starlink has been offering its services in Italy since 2021,

but its business in the euro zone's third-largest economy is

modest, with a customer base of around 50,000.

Italy is considering using Starlink services to boost

Internet penetration in remote areas in response to slow

progress in public-funded fibre rollout programmes.

In October, the foreign ministry said Italy was also

evaluating using Starlink systems to enhance communications for

Italian diplomats and defence officials operating in risky areas

across the Mediterranean.

Starlink owns around 60% of the roughly 7,500 satellites

orbiting earth and is a dominant player, particularly for

low-orbit satellites.

Sources told Reuters in December, Italy plans to begin tests

as early as this month to see if Starlink is a viable solution

to speed up the rollout of high-speed internet.