A fire broke out at a Starlink facility in Poland; police are considering arson as a possible cause
Kyiv • UNN
The fire damaged antennas and a generator at the Starlink facility in Wola Krobowska. Investigators are considering arson and a short circuit.
A fire broke out at a Starlink satellite communications base station in Wola Krobowska, Poland. According to preliminary data, arson may have been the cause, although investigators are also considering a short circuit. RMF24 reports, UNN writes.
Details
On Wednesday, September 23, late in the evening, the owner of the site where telecommunications infrastructure components are located called the emergency service number. He reported that the antennas had caught fire. The generator was also damaged. Firefighters arrived at the scene and managed to extinguish the blaze.
According to the services' preliminary findings, the incident may have involved the arson of a distribution board. The second scenario that must be considered is a short circuit in the electrical system.
The ground station in Wola Krobowska, together with a similar station near Kaunas, Lithuania, provides internet access to a significant part of Central and Eastern Europe.
According to Minister of Digitalization Krzysztof Gawkowski, much indicates that the fire was an intentional attempt to disrupt the station's operation.
The operator of this station is Exatel, a state-owned telecommunications operator that is one of the elements ensuring internet security, supplying internet, in particular, to Ukraine as well
The head of the Ministry of Digitalization explained that a possible shutdown of such stations would cause disruptions to internet services and could therefore, in particular, affect the operation of ATMs.