"Yes indeed, in a tweet heard all around the northern hemisphere, on Nov. 6 Canada's Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED) Ministry announced that it has granted "regulatory approval for the @SpaceXStarlink low Earth orbit satellite constellation."
How important is this to Canada, and is $99 for as little as 50 mbps internet speeds really a good deal? With Comcast offering 200 mbps for under $50 in metro locales in the U.S. you might not think so, but here's the thing: Listening in on tweets from elated Canadian (future) customers, and hearing their lamentations about being forced to pay, for example, $46 a month (presumably Canadian) for 6 mbps, $75 for 5 mbps, or even $95 for a measly 2 mbps, it's pretty clear that the service Starlink is offering will be a big improvement for a lot of rural users.
What's more, in an effort to win a $16 billion rural broadband contract from the FCC, SpaceX is working hard to get its speeds up to 1 gigabyte per second — as much as a 20x improvement over the initial capabilities of the beta service."
"SpaceX is offering Canadians almost exactly the same service price it's offering in the U.S. –– C$129 (about $98 U.S.) for the service itself, and C$649 ($495 U.S.) for the hardware. And Musk recently tweeted out a promised "big expansion" of the service in Canada "in 6 to 8 weeks." "
Even such relatively small numbers could add up to big business for SpaceX, however, and a big opportunity for investors. As internal SpaceX documents show, the company hopes to reap as much as $4 billion in annual revenue from Starlink subscriptions as early as next year, and grow that revenue haul to $22 billion annually by 2025, at operating profit margins as high as 60%.
"This implies that within just a few years, Starlink — which created no revenue as recently as last year — could grow into a $13 billion profit machine. Oh, and here's the best part: SpaceX plans to IPO Starlink so that you can own a part of it. The COO said so herself." Motley Fool
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There has been some talk in my space to the effect that Starlink is too expensive and therefore not commercially viable. ????? pl
https://www.fool.com/investing/2020/11/26/spacex-starlink-just-won-a-huge-customer/
I signed up for info a couple of months ago. Sounds almost too good to be true. Will Comcast, Verizon and ATT etc just roll over and die? Or will they actually compete and lower prices as well as provide better service. If I can stream my favorite “football” club from England I’m in. So sick of paying the most for the least.
The market for Starlink extends far beyond the Great White North and other areas best described as the boondocks. Fifty miles south of Washington DC many are just getting the opportunity to get broadband internet. Just a couple of weeks ago this article appeared in our local paper, “Broadband coming for up to 4,800 rural Stafford homes.” This is radio-based broadband mounted on two existing cell towers in our county. The accompanying map shows I live within the footprint of this service except i might be in a hollow that is masked from those cell towers. I barely get cell service at home. I already have Verizon FIOS so no need for radio broadband.
https://fredericksburg.com/news/local/broadband-coming-for-up-to-4-800-rural-stafford-homes/article_8b4dbcff-c0a5-5a01-94f3-a5f052eb11e0.html
This radio broadband already provides service in Stafford along the Potomac. For comparison, the Gold Premium service with 30 Mbps download and 7 Mbps upload costs $89.99 per month. The top of the line Diamond service has up to 150 Mbps download and up to 50 Mbps upload speeds. That will set you back $199.99. Starlink broadband will be a much better deal for this area. I get 30 Mbps up and down from my FIOS and pay $70.00 for internet and phone service. I don’t get FIOS TV. Starlink doesn’t want me or my neighbors as customers. It wants those a few miles down the road from me who don’t have FIOS or reliable cable service. The market is definitely there.
TTG,
The market isn’t just on the road to Richmond. It’s global.
I hope it puts an end to corrupt companies living off the “universal service fund” like our “Sandwich Islands Communications” which was getting FCC money to bring broadband to Hawaiian Homestead land. Much of the money was going into the hands of the principles via networks of companies with interlocking directorships.
Fred,
No shit. My point is that the market also extends to the commuting suburbs of a major metropolitan area. High speed broadband isn’t near as widespread as a lot of people think it is.