Telecommunications

CNN: SpaceX wants to beam internet from space. This could be its biggest hurdle.

As SpaceX prepares to ramp up its Starlink satellite constellation launches to the semi-monthly cadence it promised for 2020, CNN has taken a look at the other side of the operation: the ground terminals. In a nutshell, it's the ground side, rather than the space side, that's tripped up several would-be LEO Internet providers, and SpaceX appears to be rushing to develop viable hardware for this purpose that can be sold at an affordable price.

This is not to say it can't be done; a good rule of thumb so far is never to bet against SpaceX. However, Gwynne Shotwell, the company's president and COO, has said that they are 'putting "a lot of engineering" resources into developing user terminals. "Because if we don't get it right," she said, "we're in deep doo-doo."'

The major concern is whether the kind of phased-array antenna that would be needed to track and communicate with the fast-orbiting satellites could be made cheaply enough to be sold (or rented) to the typical customer who would be the target market for the service. A price point of around $200 would seem to be necessary, yet an officer at a US-based antenna maker suggested that the best he could do would be around $1000 per unit.

Obviously, this isn't definitive, and I fully expect SpaceX to solve these problems. It does illustrate their difficulty, though, and why it would be so remarkable if SpaceX is able to break through while many others have failed.

From a cost standpoint, Starlink is already light-years ahead of other attempts. The company has said that by reusing Falcon 9 boosters and other hardware, it can launch the satellites for less than the cost of building them. Since each launch carries 60 to orbit and we've heard that the manufacturing cost is less than $500K each, that means the company has cut its internal launch cost to under $30 million, which is unheard of in the medium lift industry.

Edited by Fighteer on Dec 10th 2019 at 7:59:00 AM

Looks like London is going to allow Huawei in, but with restrictions.

From AFP:

Satellite Internet provider OneWeb is launching its first production satellites this week, atop a Soyuz rocket. This batch of 34 will get it started on its near-term goal of 648 LEO satellites in a global constellation. OneWeb is setting itself up for competition with SpaceX in the immediate future, never mind Amazon and Facebook's plans for their own constellations.

This ArsTechnica article documents an interview with OneWeb about competition, astronomy, and several other things on the eve of their entry into the soon to be crowded market.

From Bloomberg, Musk’s SpaceX Plans a Spinoff, IPO for Starlink Business. For those not subscribed, here's a non-paywalled version by TechCrunch.

This is based on remarks that SpaceX President and COO Gwynne Shotwell made during a private JP Morgan investor conference today. It wouldn't happen for several years yet, but the gist is that, unlike SpaceX, which has a non-traditional business model focused on high-risk engineering projects, Starlink is basically a commercial ISP and would benefit from access to public funding.

Presumably this means that the satellite manufacturing, operations, network build-out, and customer service functions would be part of the Starlink business, while they would contract for at-cost launch services from SpaceX.

Edited by Fighteer on Feb 6th 2020 at 7:04:40 AM

SpaceX's Starlink program hit a milestone today: the seventh launch of satellites brings the total number in orbit to right around 420 (obvious joke is obvious, get it out of your system). These will take several months to reach operational altitude, and we finally got word from Elon Musk as to when Starlink internet service will be available, at least initially.

Per this tweet, the private beta begins in around 3 months, with a public beta to start around 3 months after that. As previously discussed, initial coverage will occur in high latitudes such as the northern U.S. and Canada (and presumably in southern latitudes on the other side of the globe, although we don't know how much progress SpaceX has made with regulatory and commercial approval in those areas), and expand to lower latitudes as more satellites are launched.

"Private beta" usually means invitation-only, and service availability will be limited not just by the number of satellites in the sky but also by the number of transceiver units that can be built and sold. Less tangible but still crucial will be the company's ability to provide sales and service support. Judging by the responses every time the subject comes up, I can imagine that demand for both betas will be extremely high.

I'm not an ideal customer for Starlink as I have moderate-quality residential broadband and live in a moderately dense area. Starlink is intended primarily to supply low-cost, low-latency broadband to areas that are traditionally under-served, and the basic nature of the system means that there is a cap on the bandwidth that can be delivered to any geographic area that is governed by the number of satellites that can be overhead at any one time. You also need the ability to place the transceiver on a surface with a view of the sky, so apartment buildings might be tricky.

We still don't know anything about pricing, but guesses people have made on the basis of some very general numbers and statements places it in the range of $20 to $50 per month for speeds of anywhere between 50 Mbps and 1 Gbps.

Edited by Fighteer on Apr 22nd 2020 at 8:53:37 AM

Courtesy of Tesmanian, we have our first look at an end-user Starlink terminal. These are prototypes being tested internally by SpaceX, so may not be exactly like what consumers are able to purchase later this year.

At a recent meeting of SpaceX executives, there was apparently a competition where each was given a terminal and tasked to set it up as fast as possible. The photos were obtained around this time.

Elon Musk's description of them as a "UFO on a stick" is quite apt. The terminal features a pole that can be planted in the ground or fixed to a mounting plate. Atop this pole is a motorized dish about half a meter in diameter. The terminal will locate Starlink satellites in the sky and aim its antenna for optimal reception as they pass overhead. There is a single cable for power and the terminal will operate as a WiFi hotspot.

Obviously, there are still a lot of unknowns, such as the price for the service (and for the terminal), the data rates available to consumers, and the final latency of connections. We've seen some images of diagnostic screens showing latency in the realm of 20 ms, but this has not been verified. Elon Musk says this is what should be expected with the first generation of satellites, with plans to launch future generations to lower orbits that will reduce latency to as little as 8 ms.

If you already have a WiFi router at your home and plan to get this service, you may want to see if it offers a 'repeater' mode to amplify an existing WiFi network, rather than acting as a gateway or access point.

The Starlink website is now allowing people to sign up to be notified when service is available in their geographic area.

Edited by Fighteer on Jun 20th 2020 at 10:27:14 AM

Tesmanian: FCC approves the operation of 'Starlink Router' for SpaceX's internet network

Amusingly, the article mostly covers the design of the branding label, which is part of the FCC application. It's triangular and has a lot of information on it, including that the terminals are made in Taiwan.

Starlink has been marching onward towards the start of its beta test phase, and FCC approval is a critical step for the company to pass to begin offering service. The website began sending out emails asking people who registered their interest in the beta to provide their service address, to better determine demand.

I'm still very ambivalent about whether I'll actually get Starlink; I have decent Internet service already. It would be very interesting to try out, though.

Edited by Fighteer on Jul 14th 2020 at 8:30:29 AM

Clarification: apparently Starlink user terminals will use a POE (Power Over Ethernet) connection, so they won't replace your existing WiFi router but rather plug into it [1]. I guess you'll plug the POE cable into an AC adapter and then run a line to your own router. The built-in WiFi would then be a backup in case the user doesn't have their own router.

The Starlink Beta FAQ has leaked from the official website and has been covered by Tesmanian. The initial program rollout will cover latitudes from 44 to 52 degrees north, in the U.S. and Canada. (Guess I'm out then.) Beta program members must sign an NDA, use the service for 30 minutes to 1 hour per day (minimum), and provide feedback via surveys, phone calls, and/or email. Testers will be shipped a complete Starlink user terminal kit for free (including a WiFi router), but will be charged a nominal fee to test the billing systems.

This is really happening, folks.

Edited by Fighteer on Jul 16th 2020 at 10:24:45 AM

London has decided to phase Huawei out. Beijing c/o the Chinese Ambassador to the UK cries foul over the decision.

Unboxing video of the SpaceX Starlink terminal... looks like by an employee in the private beta test. It seems just as simple as advertised. You just need some place where you can put the terminal with a clear view of the sky.

All I really have is my yard: no balcony or patio. I don't fancy this thing getting stolen or vandalized, so maybe it'll have to go on a roof mount... if I get it, that is.

Edit: It looks like the tweet was taken down, possibly for violating NDA. Never mind then.

Edited by Fighteer on Jul 19th 2020 at 5:25:18 AM

There's a Reddit thread in which a user has collated various Speedtest results from Starlink customers, presumably in the private beta test pool. Bear in mind that, even if this is accurate, it's still very early data, with under 500 operational satellites in a constellation meant to number in the tens of thousands.

• Download rates range from around 37 Mbps to 60 Mbps.
• Upload rates range from 4.6 Mbps to 17.7 Mbps.
• Latency ranges from 31 ms to 94 ms.

Overall, not bad. My cable modem connection gets 9 ms latency, 44 Mbps down (rated for 50, there was other household traffic during the test), and 5 Mbps up. The bandwidth is comparable, but latency could improve. This is expected to happen as more satellites go up.

Meanwhile, Michael Sheetz on Twitter posts some data from a SpaceX presentation to the FCC on Starlink. Tidbits:

• SpaceX is manufacturing 120 satellites per month (compared with Iridium at 6, although Iridium satellites are larger).
• It is developing and producing "thousands of user terminals per month".

This tweet shows a portion of SpaceX's letter in which it advocates for retaining control of the 12 GHz band that its satellites operate on. This is important because land-based telecommunication providers are trying to claw back the FCC's grant of this operational band for Starlink and other constellations since they want it for their 5G networks.

Also this month, the FCC approved Amazon's Project Kuiper (NYT), under which it intends to orbit 3,236 LEO broadband satellites. It is currently unknown what plans Amazon has to mitigate reflections that could hamper astronomy or to avoid potential space collisions.

Edited by Fighteer on Aug 14th 2020 at 8:18:53 AM

Sorta related with the plans to get WeChat out of there.

Anyone familiar enough with 5G to comment on this? It's some meteorologists discussing whether some recent instances of weather models not noticing the development of hurricanes may be due to 5G interfering with moisture detection by satellites.

I know there is a lot of Illuminati-MIB-Deep State conspiracy nonsense around 5G but this looks like it might be legit. And it'd be a serious problem if true - one of the worst case scenarios of a tropical cyclone-related disaster is if one of them develops quickly close to a coastline, leaving no time for evacuations or preparations if its genesis was not forecast.

It seems really unlikely. 5G is relatively short-range and its penetration will be mainly in large population areas, nowhere near the large stretches of ocean where these observations are made.

That said, LEO Internet constellations will have truly global coverage and might contribute more noise in the relevant bands. I'm not sure if they actively transmit data when they are not engaged by a user terminal, though. If not, then again I can't see a significant signal over the oceans.

Ars Technica: AT&T reportedly trying to sell DirecTV after massive customer losses

Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal have reported that AT&T is attempting to sell its DirecTV division to private equity bidders five years after acquiring the service for $49 billion. The final price could be as low as $20 billion.

AT&T has been hemorrhaging customers from its television services for years, and not just in its satellite business. Overall, its subscriber numbers have plummeted by 7 million since mid-2018, from 25.45 million to 18.41 million. A reason cited is rising prices.

Edited by Fighteer on Aug 29th 2020 at 2:26:52 PM

https://r3.rappler.com/newsbreak/in-depth/247306-military-report-confirms-spying-risks-deal-china-backed-telco-part-1

Third telco company in Manila is partially owned by China and the risk is there despite Lorenza allowing them to install their equipment.

Ars Technica: Ajit Pai touted false broadband data despite clear signs it wasn’t accurate

The FCC, under Ajit Pai, has been making some extraordinary claims of improved broadband access under the Trump administration, but new information suggests that the underlying data were inaccurate, inadequately vetted, and quite likely fraudulent.

The FCC periodically reports on the number of Americans lacking broadband access, and that figure dropped substantially between 2016 and 2017 — suspiciously so, in fact. The numbers seem to have been skewed by a report from a single company, BarrierFree, which supposedly operates wireless broadband services in Suffolk County, NY, but failed to file required reports for ten years.

When it did file a report, it contained such wild inaccuracies that the FCC asked for corrections. Yet even those corrections appeared impossible, such as census areas not matching the actual service area of the company, service offerings in different states, or more homes having access than exist in a census area. The FCC has fined BarrierFree for misreporting in one year, but has not done anything about the other years it failed to turn in reports or turned them in late.

So, is Pai just making numbers up so the Trump administration can look better? Is BarrierFree part of that scheme? Wouldn't surprise me.

Edited by Fighteer on Sep 11th 2020 at 7:02:22 AM

SpaceX's Starlink service recently helped a Washington town that was damaged by wildfires [1]. Elon Musk replied that they are prioritizing zero-access locations and emergency responders for the private beta of the service.

In a follow-up tweet, Musk said that Starlink will not IPO until it has a stable revenue stream, because investors prefer businesses with reliable income over startups that are still building their product.

Ars Technica: AT&T kills DSL, leaves tens of millions of homes without fiber Internet

According to a new independent report released today, AT&T has made fiber-to-the-home Internet available to only 28 percent of the households in its geographical footprint as of its June 30, 2019 report to the FCC, only 5 percent of which are classified as "rural". It has also discontinued offering any new DSL service, meaning any customers not served by fiber are stuck with whatever they currently have.

AT&T is leaving these markets wide open for competitors to step in. Speaking of which...

Elon Musk tweeted today that the Starlink satellites deployed in Tuesday morning's launch will be enough to allow SpaceX to begin its public beta of the satellite Internet service in higher latitudes. The initial service area will include "northern US and hopefully southern Canada". One obstacle is regulatory approval from all the countries that could receive service. The satellites will take several weeks to reach their operational orbits.

By the nature of the system — hundreds and eventually thousands of tiny satellites zipping around in low orbits — the highest communication density will occur in those mid- to high-latitude areas, both north and south of the equator, and gradually spread towards the equator as more satellites are launched. It is currently possible, for example, to receive Starlink service in Texas or Florida, but the quality is too low for a commercial offering.

As I have mentioned several times previously, initial tests from the private beta show exceptional performance in the areas currently covered by enough satellites.

Edited by Fighteer on Oct 6th 2020 at 4:53:07 AM

Ars Technica: SpaceX gets FCC approval to bid in $16 billion rural-broadband auction

SpaceX appears to have overcome the FCC's doubts about whether its Starlink LEO internet constellation could meet the agency's guidelines for the rural broadband initiative — specifically, sufficiently low latency (sub-100 ms) as well as bandwidth.

The purpose of the auction is to obtain bids for FCC subsidies to deploy broadband services to rural areas that are completely devoid of such capabilities. Starlink is the only satellite operator to directly qualify to enter the auction, although Hughes is participating as an investor in OneWeb.

Tesmanian: SpaceX earns license to provide Starlink Internet in Canada

It looks like public pressure was able to overcome entrenched corporate interests in Canada in record time. SpaceX received a BITS license today to operate its Starlink broadband network in the country. Canada is a crucial market for SpaceX because of its large rural population with poor or no broadband access.

Ars Technica: Microsoft’s new data center in a box will use SpaceX Starlink broadband

Microsoft is partnering with SpaceX to supply mobile data centers equipped with Starlink terminals to remote areas.

Microsoft is also partnering with SES to use its medium Earth orbit satellites to add resiliency to the system, and the MDC can use multiple types of connections.

The partnership goes beyond mobile data centers. Microsoft is acting as a subcontractor to SpaceX for the recently announced missile tracking satellites for the U.S. DoD and plans to deploy Starlink in other global networking environments.

Social media has noted that this puts a twist on SpaceX's relationship with Google, which has reportedly invested around a billion dollars into the company and its Starlink program.

Edited by Fighteer on Oct 26th 2020 at 10:03:35 AM

https://www.netfortris.com/blog/telecommunication-trends-2020

Four things to watch in 2020.

So what are they? Don't force people to click links. Also, we're three quarters of the way through 2020, so that's a bit late.

Edit: It's just marketing mumbo jumbo. Sheesh, thought there was something interesting in it.

The Starlink Public Beta is here! Eligible users who signed up have begun to receive emails inviting them to start using the service. As there is no apparent NDA, the information went public almost immediately on Reddit.

If this is legitimate, we now know the initial pricing: $499 for the phased-array terminal and $99/month for service. Speeds will be 50 to 150 Mbps with latency ranging from 20 to 40 ms. As it's a beta, occasional interruptions in service are to be expected.

There's also an iPhone app that appears to be privately listed. It won't do you much good if you don't have Starlink. The app assists with user terminal setup and displays the status of your connection.

Mention of the antenna makes me wonder, since the last we heard they weren't able to manufacture phased arrays at the required price point and were going with mechanical tracking. They must have solved that problem.

Obviously it's a pricey service, but some people have been saying that $99/month is a bargain compared to what they're paying now for their crappy Internet, so I'm sure there will be plenty of adopters. It seems likely that pricing will decrease over time, but Gwynne and Elon weren't kidding when they said it's not meant for people with good suburban or urban broadband already.

Edited by Fighteer on Oct 27th 2020 at 7:01:34 AM