Starlink: 10,000 beta-users
February 8, 2021
By Chris Forrester
SpaceX’s Starlink broadband-by-satellite service is now supplying capacity to more than 10,000 beta-users. The news emerged in a filing to the FCC.
Moreover, SpaceX says that it has registered “hundreds of thousands” of interested users without a dollar being spent in advertising. SpaceX says that demand for its service is “strong and widespread”.
The FCC filing stated that Starlink’s performance levels were meeting and exceeding 100 Mb/s down and 20 Mb/s up, with 95 per cent of the network managing round-trip latency at or below 31 milliseconds.
Starlink had also tested successfully voice services over the system and that voice connectivity would be available to users with charges “reasonably comparable to urban rates”. Emergency services – to 911 for the US – would also be available.
The SpaceX filing was in support of the company’s classification as an Eligible Telecommunications Carrier (ETC) and the Rural Digital Opportunities Fund. Starlink is looking for the FCC to grant permission by June 7th. SpaceX has qualified for $885 million in Federal funding for a 10-year period and serving 35 US states.
SpaceX reminded the FCC that Starlink already has the authorisations necessary to offer consumer mass-market service.