Starlink creates risk of internet investment doom cycle, says APNIC researcher
- Reference: 1619161499
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2021/04/23/starlinks_catch_22/
- Source link:
Already under fire for [1]offering low capacity and high prices , APNIC's George Michaelson says the project risks being loved to death, by the wrong sort of users, and may therefore stymie much-needed investment in broadband.
[2]
“The bandwidth provided by these LEO satellites is really very good … for now. Starlink, unfortunately, runs the risk of being a victim of its own success,” [3]wrote Michaelson .
“Starlink is now being seen as a way to get high-speed Internet when the normal terrestrial high-speed Internet is within view, but alas, not quite at your door,” explained Michaelson, suggesting users on under-served city fringes as likely Starlink subcribers.
However, as Starlink delivers peak speeds only when few users are connected, speeds will decrease as more people sign up for the service. Those with slightly-worse options who sign for Starlink may therefore starve more deserving customers.
[4]
Michaelson says this problem extends beyond slow internet into infrastructure investment decisions, as governments reason that Starlink's presence means they do not need to build broadband infrastructure in some locations.
SpaceX small print on Starlink insists no Earth government has authority or sovereignty over Martian activities [5]READ MORE
This is where the chicken meets the egg, because of lack broadband will see more people sign for Starlink, degrading the satellite service and creating greater need for broadband.
It’s a catch-22,”said Michaelson. “The better that LEO satellite Internet is, the more this risk could grow."
[6]
A visit to [7]Starlink’s website brings up the following message:
Starlink is available to a limited number of users per coverage area at this time. Orders will be fulfilled on a first-come, first-served basis.
As Starlink is not yet formally launched, that's not necessarily recognition of the issues Michaelson raised. But Starlink has also shown it doesn't much care about issues like its impact on astronomers, who have complained its myriad satellites make stargazing harder. And this week they have the Lyrid meteor shower to gaze upon, and Jupiter's moons are casting shadows on each other too. ®
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[1] https://www.theregister.com/2021/04/09/spacex_starlink_is_overhyped/
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YIKawCcWoOcC5QYv0TBY2wAAAEg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://blog.apnic.net/2021/04/22/starlinks-high-speed-satellite-internet-whats-the-catch/
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YIKawCcWoOcC5QYv0TBY2wAAAEg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2021/02/23/starlink_moon/
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YIKawCcWoOcC5QYv0TBY2wAAAEg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://www.starlink.com/
[8] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
The real issue is that broadband companies have had years of government money to bring high speed internet to the poorer served people but never actually did it. they just kept the money for themselves.
Complaining about starlink is silly. Starlink has never said that they were there for large conurbations. just like you would not use existing satalite broadband in a city, so the same applies to starlink.
Utter cobblers
Headline grabbing cobblers.
My academic attention whore alarm is going off.
The same can be said for any broadband service, which is why they have lots of ways of dealing with it, most of which will be applicable to Starlink.
I would also note that the solution for Starlink is to throw more birds in the air and on a per user basis it’s probably cheaper than digging holes in the ground.
Those with slightly-worse options who sign for Starlink may therefore starve more deserving customers.
Exactly the same could be said with other internet connections. The phone networks solve it by selling you a connection with a data cap and the broadband companies solve it with a bandwidth limit. Starlink will probably stay with the bandwidth limit but could do data cap too. More customers brings more revenue which means more satellites slightly closer together and hence more bandwidth. The relatively few ground stations are the easy parts of the system to upgrade.
Uh?
"APNIC's George Michaelson says the project risks being loved to death, by the wrong sort of users,..."
We'd have got away with it if it wasn't for those pesky users.
Re: the wrong sort of users
it's capitalism, stupid. The people with money CAN afford sat dishes, among other things such as, I don't know, nicer housing, regular and fancy restaurant meals, faraway holidays, 'better' schooling and healthcare for their kids and themselves, lower crime rate, longer life expectancy and, finally, comfortable retirement in the peace and quiet of them luxury retirement homes (well, you can scrap the last bit, because covid just did the 'show your hand' trick, damn!)
And the rest of the humanity can FUCK OFF. What, did I mis-represent how this world operates?
Here telcos are already lobbying FWA instead of FTTH
Because despite being promised to be showered with money from NextGen funds to "digitalize" the country, they have seen a big opportunity to have those 5G BTS built with taxpayers' money instead their own investments, and who cares if the needed frequencies are blocked by simple obstacles and can't go around them like fibre can, or a sector can't serve above a given number of users. And of course the ex Vodafone CEO is helping them greatly from inside the government, showing who are his real masters.
So if they can save even more money avoiding to deploy where even few 5G BTS can't work but for mobile comms because their range is limited - unless of course governments tell them they can't. Yet don't count on it, they are powerful lobbying entities.
The incumbent is already advertising 99% broadband coverage because it made an agreement with a satellite operator.