SpaceX 's and other low-Earth orbit Internet satellite services are booming. This may change the lives of users who lack high-speed Internet connections, but only if they can afford it.
United Kingdom University of Surrey Computer Science Professor Alan Woodward (Alan Woodward) lives in the countryside in the southwest of England. The original internet connection is very bad. But six weeks ago, Woodward became a test user of SpaceX's Starlink Internet service, and the situation was completely different. Woodward said: "In just a few weeks, I became a true fan of Starlink."
As of the end of July, the number of Starlink service users reported by SpaceX has been close to 90,000. There are still 3.7 billion people on the planet who do not have access to the Internet. SpaceX hopes to provide broadband services to many of them. But it is not clear whether Starlink can really solve this problem.
SpaceX founder Elon Musk (Elon Musk) said at a conference in June this year: “This is actually for sparsely populated areas. In densely populated areas, we can only serve a limited number of customers. To provide services. Residents in many remote areas of the world will be turned away because they cannot afford it."
In order to expand the customer base, Starlink services must quickly reduce prices, but SpaceX must also make enough money, so that every year Can launch hundreds or even thousands of satellites. This is a very delicate balance issue.
Starlink service began to be tested online last year. In December last year, the Federal Communications Commission (FTC) funded SpaceX US$886 million to help rural areas in the United States access broadband services.
However, it is not yet fully clear whether the vast number of users in rural America can become the customer base of Starlink services. The biggest problem is price. The subscription fee for Starlink service is US$99 per month, and the general user network speed is 50M/s to 150M/s.
The most headache for users is the upfront cost of Starlink service.The cost of equipment such as satellite antennas and routers is as high as $499, and these devices are currently sold to users by SpaceX at a loss. Musk has previously stated that he hopes the cost of these devices can be reduced to nearly $250. For most users in rural areas, the price is too high.
Technology industry analyst Derek Turner (Derek Turner) said that although the current technology for manufacturing satellites and putting them into orbit is more mature and cheaper, the overall cost is still high. This means that Starlink services will still operate at a loss for a period of time. If you want to reduce service costs, you need to look beyond individual users in remote areas.
Airlines wishing to provide passengers with faster and more stable air Wi-Fi are also considering Starlink service. Other commercial enterprises in rural areas may also find value. In addition, curious rich people or technicians will try to use Starlink services.
Turner believes that adding these customers can help lower the average service price, but it also means lower bandwidth. Starlink can solve this problem by launching more satellites, but only if there are a sufficient number of users.
Musk said that before Starlink services can generate positive cash flow, tens of billions of dollars of investment will be required. So far, SpaceX has launched 1,600 satellites without any major problems, but the ultimate goal is 42,000 satellites, which is another matter entirely. "Its scalability is not as good as wired broadband," Turner said. It is not yet clear how many satellites Starlink services need to provide reliable broadband services to hundreds of thousands or even millions of simultaneous online users.
For many customers, there are cheaper alternatives than Starlink. Farmers who use the smart sensor to track local weather and soil conditions do not need broadband network connection equipment. Small companies such as Swarm use more than 120 small satellites to connect IoT devices, and their data packages start at just $5 a month.
Turner acknowledged that low-Earth orbit satellites "will become a very important innovation in the field of telecommunications." But he still believes that even in the long run, services like Starlink will be a niche product in the United States.And believes that the overall trend of laying out optical fiber network will continue.
If Starlink's subscription fees and equipment costs remain high, it is still too early to say what impact Starlink services will have on remote areas.
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