3 ms·

Here in Japan, Starlink price is continuously down (now $50) because only richer techy people (of course they have fiber and live in metropolis) buy it and they

Here in Japan, Starlink price is continuously down (now $50) because only richer techy people (of course they have fiber and live in metropolis) buy it and they don't use much. FTTH coverage is really comprehensive even in very rural area, so there are very few residential practical use case. It would be excellent for camping. It seems that it practically priced.

realusername 4y ago
It's pretty much the same in France, standard internet cost is about 35€ and fiber is being deployed at record speed, I live in the countryside (real countryside, 50 inhabitants village) and I have access to fiber. I'm not sure starlink has a future in this kind of environment outside of niche applications. Their business model is difficult in my opinion, they both need a lot of customers from rich countries to recoup the costs but in the same time, the vast majority of those rich countries are well equipped already (or about to) since having a decent internet coverage is critical for their economies.
- Ekaros 4y ago
  It seems that Starlink works in places that fail to build either fiber or good 4G/5G coverage. But even there if the demand is too much they might not have capacity to provide good service. I don't believe it is viable model they are running.
  - realusername 4y ago
    Yeah that's clearly another issue on top, if there's a place where they have some demand, they'll have a lot of demand, it's an everything or nothing market.
  - rsynnott 4y ago
    Also, if such an area exists, and there are enough people willing to pay $100/month to congest starlink, then it probably makes sense for someone to set up a WISP, which will be able to provide a better service. In fact, if this isn't happening at scale already, I would expect that some WISP companies will start using starlink congestion areas to figure out where they should be putting masts.
- kobalsky 4y ago
  > real countryside, 50 inhabitants village) and I have access to fiber small town and fast internet? it's my dream come true

realusername 4y ago

It's pretty much the same in France, standard internet cost is about 35€ and fiber is being deployed at record speed, I live in the countryside (real countryside, 50 inhabitants village) and I have access to fiber. I'm not sure starlink has a future in this kind of environment outside of niche applications. Their business model is difficult in my opinion, they both need a lot of customers from rich countries to recoup the costs but in the same time, the vast majority of those rich countries are well equipped already (or about to) since having a decent internet coverage is critical for their economies.

Ekaros 4y ago
It seems that Starlink works in places that fail to build either fiber or good 4G/5G coverage. But even there if the demand is too much they might not have capacity to provide good service. I don't believe it is viable model they are running.
- realusername 4y ago
  Yeah that's clearly another issue on top, if there's a place where they have some demand, they'll have a lot of demand, it's an everything or nothing market.
- rsynnott 4y ago
  Also, if such an area exists, and there are enough people willing to pay $100/month to congest starlink, then it probably makes sense for someone to set up a WISP, which will be able to provide a better service. In fact, if this isn't happening at scale already, I would expect that some WISP companies will start using starlink congestion areas to figure out where they should be putting masts.
kobalsky 4y ago
> real countryside, 50 inhabitants village) and I have access to fiber small town and fast internet? it's my dream come true