{"id":23262,"date":"2022-12-14T03:01:19","date_gmt":"2022-12-14T03:01:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/12\/14\/fcc-approval-of-new-starlink-satellites-should-help-growing-congestion-issues\/"},"modified":"2022-12-14T03:01:19","modified_gmt":"2022-12-14T03:01:19","slug":"fcc-approval-of-new-starlink-satellites-should-help-growing-congestion-issues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/12\/14\/fcc-approval-of-new-starlink-satellites-should-help-growing-congestion-issues\/","title":{"rendered":"FCC Approval Of New Starlink Satellites Should Help Growing Congestion Issues"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>\n
<\/p>\n

\n

from the complicated,-expensive-solutions-that-don’t-fully-fix-the-actual-problem<\/i> dept<\/h3>\n

While Space X\u2019s Starlink is a promising broadband option if you\u2019re out of range of traditional options (and can afford the $710 first month price tag), many users who\u2019ve pre-ordered aren\u2019t having a great time. Some say they\u2019ve been waiting for service more than a year, during which time Starlink has often\u00a0refused to answer basic emails<\/a>\u00a0or issue refunds, while imposing\u00a0price hikes on waiting customers.<\/a><\/p>\n

The laws of physics also aren\u2019t playing well with Musk\u2019s continued decisions to expand access to the service (RVs<\/a>,\u00a0airlines<\/a>, luxury\u00a0yachts<\/a>).\u00a0 Despite endless press hype about Starlink\u2019s disruptive potential, the current generation satellites can only provide service worldwide<\/strong> to somewhere around a million or so users in a country where 20-40 million lack access, and 83 million live under a monopoly. <\/p>\n

Things have gotten so bad, some users on Reddit say<\/a> they\u2019ve seen their Starlink speeds drop as slow as 5 Mbps during primetime. <\/p>\n

Good news though: while the average Starlink US speed has dropped from 105Mbps to 53Mbps (still fairly impressive if your only option previously was traditional satellite or shitty DSL), the service should be getting some help from the launch of 7,500 second generation low orbit satellites that just received approval from the FCC<\/a> (of a total 29,988 Gen2 satellite launch approval requests). <\/p>\n

The FCC did impose some limitations to account for the growing surge in \u201cspace junk\u201d:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cTo address concerns about orbital debris and space safety, we limit this grant to 7,500 satellites only, operating at certain altitudes,\u201d the FCC said. But the approval of 7,500 satellites \u201cwill allow SpaceX to begin deployment of Gen2 Starlink, which will bring next generation satellite broadband to Americans nationwide, including those living and working in areas traditionally unserved or underserved by terrestrial systems,\u201d the FCC said.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

While updated satellites with greater capacity should aid congestion, Wall Street analysts have suggested that even with a full array of 42,000 next-gen satellites (which will take years to deliver and likely a working and successful Starship launch) total Starlink global subscriber reach could still be somewhere around 6 million<\/a>, which remains a drop in the bucket when it comes to the kind of volume needed to bridge the digital divide or disrupt the nation\u2019s lumbering telecom monopolies. <\/p>\n

That doesn\u2019t account for Starlink\u2019s apparent issues with customer service. Or the fact that the service\u2019s $110 per month cost (plus $600 hardware charge) is out of reach for those who lack access to broadband due to affordability. Nor does it guarantee the fact that Starlink can be profitable, something Musk has repeatedly stated remains largely uncertain<\/a> in a low-earth orbit satellite industry rife with past failures. <\/p>\n

Starlink exists less as a genuine way to tackle the digital divide, and more as a cool side project designed to boost Musk companies\u2019 reputation for innovation, goose stock value, and nab the kind of subsidies Musk routinely claims disdain for. <\/p>\n

But the Trump administration\u2019s decision to give Starlink a billion in subsidies has been backtracked by the current FCC due to some falsehoods in the company\u2019s application<\/a>, and remaining questions about whether the service can reliably scale and survive the next decade (read: if you\u2019re going to subsidize broadband, you should focus on subsidizing future-proof fiber first and foremost). <\/p>\n

This is all before you get to the whole \u201cruining scientific research due to light pollution<\/a>\u201d issue, which the FCC claims to have helped mitigate by \u201climiting SpaceX\u2019s operations to below 580 km, requiring SpaceX to continue to coordinate and collaborate with NASA to minimize impacts to NASA\u2019s science missions, requiring SpaceX to coordinate with the National Science Foundation, and requiring SpaceX to coordinate with specific observatories to protect radioastronomy operations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Musk being, well, Musk, we\u2019ll see if any of this stuff is actually adhered to, or if we continue to pretend that Starlink is simply so innovative, all federal rules and accountability for service issues should be deemed a cumbersome and unnecessary afterthought. <\/p>\n

\nFiled Under: broadband<\/a>, digital divide<\/a>, fcc<\/a>, high speed internet<\/a>, low earth orbit satellite<\/a>, satellite<\/a>, starlink<\/a>
\n
Companies: spacex<\/a>, starlink<\/a>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n