Starlink & Satellite Internet — A game-changer — by Shravan Kumar Sankaran
The internet has revolutionized the way people live their lives and companies operate their businesses. It had its origins in the early 1960s when the US government was looking for a means to share information. In the late 1960s, the ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network) was formed by the US army, with the intention to create an easy way to share data and vital information, in the wake of a potential nuclear attack. The ARPANET gradually evolved into what we now call the internet. Jan 1, 1983, is considered the official birthday of the internet, as that was the day when ARPANET embraced the TCP/IP (Transfer Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) protocol, which was a new communication protocol that enabled computers on different networks to talk to each other in a universal language.
While the internet has made rapid inroads into urban areas that have a dense population, with speeds touching an impressive 1 Gbps, the same cannot be said for the rural and remote areas. Inaccessibility to these areas, lesser population, logistic challenges, and not-so-attractive ROIs are some of the reasons why internet service providers have been reluctant to venture into such places. The solution to this could be the much-hyped and much talked about Satellite Internet — which is nothing but internet service provided via communication satellites. It basically works by beaming internet data via radio cables through the vacuum of space. Ground stations on the earth broadcast signals to these satellites, and the internet satellites transmit data back to the receiver dish using radio frequencies that are converted into internet signals by a modem inside our home/office.
One of the upcoming and ambitious players in the satellite internet technology space is Starlink, which is owned by Elon Musk’s well-known Space X, an American aerospace manufacturer, and space transportation services company, headquartered in California. Up to 1,325 Starlink satellites have been launched so far, and around 10,000 users have signed up for their service, globally. The Starlink system is currently in the beta testing phase, and tests have revealed speeds ranging from 50 to 150Mbps. The numbers are expected to go up and reach 300Mbps by the end of this year. The company hopes to reach the 1 Gbps mark next, followed by 10 Gbps, but it’s going to be a long haul to achieve this. They also plan to bump up the number of deployed satellites from 1,325 to 12,000 in the coming months to ensure worldwide coverage.
Where Starlink differs from their competitors (such as HughesNet) is the way in which they have deployed their satellites. They use LEO (Low Earth Orbit) satellites that orbit a mere 300 miles above the surface of the earth (compared to 22,000 miles used by HughesNet). This arrangement means, signals have to travel a much lesser distance, and hence leads to better internet speeds and lower latency (typically between 20 and 40 ms). All this, however, comes at a cost. The subscription for Starlink’s beta service is priced at $99 per month, in addition to the $499 that users have to pay for acquiring the Starlink Kit that includes a WiFi router, mounting tripod, and a terminal to connect to the satellites (image shown below). However, one point to note is, Starlink recommends installing the satellite dish at the highest elevation possible and avoid any obstructions, as even a single tree or pole could disrupt the signal and hamper the speed.
One of the major benefits of satellite internet is that it can provide internet coverage to even the most rural and remote locations on the planet. We still face challenges with mobile data connectivity in these areas, and satellite internet could very well be a worthy and powerful alternative to it. This would be a boon for countries like India, where internet coverage is either very poor or totally absent in certain rural areas. These areas also have plenty of open spaces without any commercial buildings and towers, thereby allowing Starlink to perform at its fullest potential. With the raging COVID pandemic across the world, this will also be a blessing for students in the rural areas that need access to online classes and digital content. Since the infrastructure on earth is minimal compared to traditional broadband and mobile networks, it is less likely to sustain damage during extreme weather conditions and other natural disasters. This means better service availability and even in the event something goes wrong, recovery will be much faster — even when local infrastructure is still having problems. With the superior speeds and better quality connections, we can only take advantage of revolutionary new age technologies such as smart homes, smart farming, sensor networks, mobile banking, navigation etc in a big way.
The good news is, Starlink has plans to foray into India sometime in 2022. Pre-orders have already begun at $99, and users can check the availability of the service in their area by typing in their city and postal code. Starlink will definitely have an eye for the Indian market as Indians are one of the fastest adopters of the internet and usage has been booming of late. However, the cost of the service may be a deterrent for some, especially from the lower and middle-class strata of Indian society. Hughes India (a subsidiary of HughesNet), in partnership with ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization), has already started providing satellite internet connectivity to around 5,000 remote villages in the eastern part of India. Bharti Airtel has also announced plans to launch satellite internet services in the country by May/June 2022, having forged a deal with OneWeb — a global communications company that delivers satellite internet services worldwide.
Satellite internet is at our doorstep today. While it is still at a nascent stage and may not be a viable or must-have option for most of us at the moment, the future definitely bodes well for satellite internet. It will indeed be a game-changer for those who have been deprived of exploring the internet and the enormous world of benefits it has to offer!
