Starlink is expanding its services as Elon Musk said at the MWC conference, that the internet service (Starlink) will have over 500,000 users in the coming 12 months. The Satellite Internet is operational in almost 12 countries, while Musk promised to expand the coverage across the globe soon.
SpaceX Satellite internet network has over 69,420 active users as the company has successfully launched 1700 satellites to earth orbit. The purpose is to provide low-cost internet service to rural areas, military agencies, and those places where there is no internet access.
The internet service was initially launched as a beta for just $99. While users would have to pay $499 for Starlink dish antenna and Wifi router. He also mentioned that Starlink dish accessories cost the company approximately $1300, while the company will be selling it for just $499. This is a huge loss to the company, but our aim is to provide better internet service globally. The internet speed is claimed to be more than 100 Mbps (Download Speed) and 20 Mbps (Upload Speed).
Furthermore, Musk also stated that we have collaborated with two of the biggest telecom operators to work together not to directly compete with them. He doesn’t disclose the companies names. He stated,
“We have two quite significant partnerships with major country (telecommunications companies), that I would like to be able to announce now but obviously we defer to our partners to make any announcement”.
Musk believes that once the network is fully operational globally it could generate almost $30 billion in revenue. However, the total investment will surpass $20 billion.
According to Musk, the Starlink latency will be as low as 5G and Fiber. It could be approximately 20ms. Low latency plays an important role while playing online games, streaming videos/ live events, or internet surfing.
