Starlink’s high-speed internet is now available in the Maldives 🛰️🇲🇻❤️→ starlink.com/map
We've (Kyklades Maritime) mounted @Starlink systems on 4 out of our 22 ships. By early Q1'24, we aim to outfit the entire fleet. This innovative tech is shaking up marine web services and provides high-quality connectivity.
Starlink is quickly becoming ubiquitous in the maritime industry in large part due to it manufacturing enough terminals to flood the zone.
Quote from: RedLineTrain on 11/13/2023 03:10 pmStarlink is quickly becoming ubiquitous in the maritime industry in large part due to it manufacturing enough terminals to flood the zone.It cannot be truly "ubiquitous" until service is available anywhere on the the surface of any ocean. I tried looking at the Starlink web site to see if this is true yet and I did not find the answer. To have coverage everywhere, you pretty much need continuous coverage with satellites that have ISL. Does Starlink have ISL for at least a full-coverage sub-constellation?I can believe Starlink already dominates the maritime comms industry, because most ships don't make trans-ocean voyages, so they can be served by satellites without ISL. The subset of ships that routinely make trans-ocean voyages is relatively small, but these ships are typically willing to pay a lot for service.
Elon Musk’s Starlink has more than 5,000 small communication satellites in space and is seeking approval to put up over 40,000. It is estimated that between 7,000 to 8,000 ships have antennas and terminals onboard and are using the service.This is a phenomenal number, even if partly true, given Starlink only introduced its commercial services for maritime a little more than 18 months ago. Companies such as Maersk, BW Group, and MOL among others have made big announcements about their fleet-wide installation of Starlink, using it among other things to show their crew welfare commitments.
Joshua Flood, from Valour Consultancy, a satcoms advisory service in the UK. . . told TradeWinds it was likely that Starlink went directly to some larger shipowners and operators as it began to dip its toe into the turbulent maritime communications waters, but soon realised that it would need the help of the reseller market for this; resellers that are already selling connectivity packages using existing Ku, Ka and L-Band offerings that providers such as Intelsat, Inmarsat, Viasat, Eutelsat, Iridium SES and Thuraya offer.Flood points to the low entry price for Starlink. It is remarkably cheap, and the prices are available on its website. This he suggests could be a challenge for the 40 or so resellers as they gain very little markup.
TradeWinds has an article about the Starlink maritime uptake.QuoteElon Musk’s Starlink has more than 5,000 small communication satellites in space and is seeking approval to put up over 40,000. It is estimated that between 7,000 to 8,000 ships have antennas and terminals onboard and are using the service.This is a phenomenal number, even if partly true, given Starlink only introduced its commercial services for maritime a little more than 18 months ago. Companies such as Maersk, BW Group, and MOL among others have made big announcements about their fleet-wide installation of Starlink, using it among other things to show their crew welfare commitments.QuoteJoshua Flood, from Valour Consultancy, a satcoms advisory service in the UK. . . told TradeWinds it was likely that Starlink went directly to some larger shipowners and operators as it began to dip its toe into the turbulent maritime communications waters, but soon realised that it would need the help of the reseller market for this; resellers that are already selling connectivity packages using existing Ku, Ka and L-Band offerings that providers such as Intelsat, Inmarsat, Viasat, Eutelsat, Iridium SES and Thuraya offer.Flood points to the low entry price for Starlink. It is remarkably cheap, and the prices are available on its website. This he suggests could be a challenge for the 40 or so resellers as they gain very little markup.My guess is that over time, these resellers will have to find a different business model, as the VSAT services that they resell are gradually deprecated or suffer severe price erosion.https://www.tradewindsnews.com/technology/satcoms-upheaval-can-elon-musk-sprinkle-his-stardust-on-shipping-/2-1-1552576
BW Group recently announced it has managed to roll out 100 Starlink systems onto 100 ships in half a year. It was a job done by the ships’ crews themselves, guided by the IT shore team of BW Gas. The commercial Starlink hardware is very similar to the commercial systems which are shipped out to consumers for them to install on the roofs of their homes, caravans, and motor yachts.
Also, it's a lot easier to install a Starlink antenna than it is to install a traditional maritime GEO antenna, so the resellers have a lot less value to add.
Don't know when this happened, but Starlink residential price has been reduced to 40 Euros/month in some parts of Europe (e.g, France, Italy, Greece, and Spain, with a 9 Euro/month regulatory fee in Spain additional) and 50 Euros in Germany.Am I assuming correctly that this is starting to become competitive with DSL in some German towns?
|how many users per month are being added globally.According to Bing Chat:Starlink has been growing rapidly. As of May 2023, Starlink had 1.5 million users.1. By September 2023, it had reached 2 million users2. This means that Starlink added 500,000 users in four months, which is an average of approximately 125,000 new users per month.3. Please note that these figures are subject to change as new data becomes available.Edit:- Imagine what it will be when cell phone users start to buy Starlink subscriptions. Wow. By the time Kuiper is ready to send their first production birds up, SX will be testing cell phone functionality.
Quote from: RedLineTrain on 11/16/2023 07:49 pmDon't know when this happened, but Starlink residential price has been reduced to 40 Euros/month in some parts of Europe (e.g, France, Italy, Greece, and Spain, with a 9 Euro/month regulatory fee in Spain additional) and 50 Euros in Germany.Am I assuming correctly that this is starting to become competitive with DSL in some German towns?That is very interesting to see the rates coming that low. I'm also watching for information on terminal costs. Being able to sell those for less can really go a long way to open up potential markets. And how many users per month are being added globally.
Quote from: RedLineTrain on 11/16/2023 07:49 pmDon't know when this happened, but Starlink residential price has been reduced to 40 Euros/month in some parts of Europe (e.g, France, Italy, Greece, and Spain, with a 9 Euro/month regulatory fee in Spain additional) and 50 Euros in Germany.Am I assuming correctly that this is starting to become competitive with DSL in some German towns?Vodafone Cable is 44.99 for 250/25, Telekom DSL is 47.95 for 100/40. So they are now right in the middle of wired connections, special offer notwithstanding.
Will added that this price reduction is a preemptive move to impose a price ceiling in those markets for satellite internet service providers. Who will either match Starlink's lower customer prices or lose market share with higher prices. In case of new service providers, not gaining significant market share at all.
Quote from: Zed_Noir on 11/17/2023 07:03 amWill added that this price reduction is a preemptive move to impose a price ceiling in those markets for satellite internet service providers. Who will either match Starlink's lower customer prices or lose market share with higher prices. In case of new service providers, not gaining significant market share at all.My guess is that Starlink doesn't see other satellite internet service providers as the relevant competition. Rather, it's the marginal landline customer: DSL. Going after DSL's market would be ambitious, but it's a fairly big business in some countries. It does strike me as a somewhat price-sensitive market.That said, I notice that in France, Orange is teaming up with a satellite internet service provider (Eutelsat?) to offer only a slightly more expensive, but inferior service. So there is at least some intent to compete from the geosat providers.
