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Absurdity of complaining about discounts aside (wish I had enough money to complain about discounts!), geographically keyed discounts make sense because each St

Absurdity of complaining about discounts aside (wish I had enough money to complain about discounts!), geographically keyed discounts make sense because each Starlink satellite serves a relatively small patch of Earth at any instance. This means Starlink can simultaneously be oversubscribed in one country and under-subscribed in another. Discounts are a common sense tool to address regional under-subscription.

morphle 3y ago
Starlink geographically keyed discounts, also roamning or maritime accounts already differentiates the monthly fees. Why would the Dishy hardware price be different for locations as well the hardware cost isn't? > wish I had enough money to complain about discounts! I am quite sure I have even less than money you. We complain because it is unfair. Incidentally, overcharging is one reason one becomes the richest or second richest man in the world [1]. [1] https://www.forbes.com/real-time-billionaires/#34ebc7873d78 https://www.forbes.com/real-time-billionaires/#34ebc7873d78
- inemesitaffia 3y ago
  Costs aren't prices. You're getting a loss leader. It's even more expensive in Africa. Where you'd think it shouldn't.
- delichon 3y ago
  Previous to Starlink I was paying the same amount to a small regional telco for less than 10% of the performance. So to me it feels like a bargain rather than overcharging.
  - ejb999 3y ago
    same here when I first got Starlink - I was paying more for a 3MB DSL line from Verizon, and for less money I got roughly 100X the speed from Starlink - I would have paid 10X as much for this if I needed to - a real game changer for folks that aren't served by better options (i.e. FTTH)
- notquitetrue 3y ago
  You’re not entitled to use Elon’s satellites. And in reality, the service is aggressively priced. It seems they only started breaking even a few months ago. Also, costs are not geographically uniform. They need regulatory permission to operate in a country, and some countries make that easier than others. Sometimes market access means paying lots of tax too.
  - numpad0 3y ago
    This is only correct in lawless land, such as right in the middle of Africa. In most nations, in even some totalitarian dictatorships(dictatorships hate those opinionated and powerful), you are only allowed to deny services by conditions and to extents tolerated by law. Some developed countries are moving towards Internet and smartphones as human rights, and handing out phones to homeless people. That implies it's rather phone network operators that don't have the entitlement to speak of such entitlements. The nation owns everything. The nation can take and give anything anytime so long its owners agree(the monarch, the dictator, the party, the people collectively). It's always been that way.
    - s1artibartfast 3y ago
      >The nation owns everything. The nation can take and give anything anytime so long its owners agree(the monarch, the dictator, the party, the people collectively). It's always been that way. It cant take anything from an individual that they aren't willing to give up. They can make things very hard for them if they decide not to.
    - notquitetrue 3y ago
      Huh? Starlink is in the US and his right to operate physical satellites is under US jurisdiction. So even acknowledging this middle-school observation of yours that governments can in fact confiscate property, the only leverage foreign governments have over Starlink is the right to deny him permission to transmit into their territory. (Even then, only because the US mostly respects international agreements on this. The US lets Elon transmit into some countries like Iran without their permission and there’s not much they can do about it).
- inemesitaffia 3y ago
  Starlink is the cheapest satellite provider for speeds over 10/1. Maybe BGAN might be cheaper. But you aren't watching 4K TV on that

morphle 3y ago

Starlink geographically keyed discounts, also roamning or maritime accounts already differentiates the monthly fees. Why would the Dishy hardware price be different for locations as well the hardware cost isn't? > wish I had enough money to complain about discounts! I am quite sure I have even less than money you. We complain because it is unfair. Incidentally, overcharging is one reason one becomes the richest or second richest man in the world [1]. [1] https://www.forbes.com/real-time-billionaires/#34ebc7873d78 https://www.forbes.com/real-time-billionaires/#34ebc7873d78

inemesitaffia 3y ago
Costs aren't prices. You're getting a loss leader. It's even more expensive in Africa. Where you'd think it shouldn't.
delichon 3y ago
Previous to Starlink I was paying the same amount to a small regional telco for less than 10% of the performance. So to me it feels like a bargain rather than overcharging.
- ejb999 3y ago
  same here when I first got Starlink - I was paying more for a 3MB DSL line from Verizon, and for less money I got roughly 100X the speed from Starlink - I would have paid 10X as much for this if I needed to - a real game changer for folks that aren't served by better options (i.e. FTTH)
notquitetrue 3y ago
You’re not entitled to use Elon’s satellites. And in reality, the service is aggressively priced. It seems they only started breaking even a few months ago. Also, costs are not geographically uniform. They need regulatory permission to operate in a country, and some countries make that easier than others. Sometimes market access means paying lots of tax too.
- numpad0 3y ago
  This is only correct in lawless land, such as right in the middle of Africa. In most nations, in even some totalitarian dictatorships(dictatorships hate those opinionated and powerful), you are only allowed to deny services by conditions and to extents tolerated by law. Some developed countries are moving towards Internet and smartphones as human rights, and handing out phones to homeless people. That implies it's rather phone network operators that don't have the entitlement to speak of such entitlements. The nation owns everything. The nation can take and give anything anytime so long its owners agree(the monarch, the dictator, the party, the people collectively). It's always been that way.
  - s1artibartfast 3y ago
    >The nation owns everything. The nation can take and give anything anytime so long its owners agree(the monarch, the dictator, the party, the people collectively). It's always been that way. It cant take anything from an individual that they aren't willing to give up. They can make things very hard for them if they decide not to.
  - notquitetrue 3y ago
    Huh? Starlink is in the US and his right to operate physical satellites is under US jurisdiction. So even acknowledging this middle-school observation of yours that governments can in fact confiscate property, the only leverage foreign governments have over Starlink is the right to deny him permission to transmit into their territory. (Even then, only because the US mostly respects international agreements on this. The US lets Elon transmit into some countries like Iran without their permission and there’s not much they can do about it).
inemesitaffia 3y ago
Starlink is the cheapest satellite provider for speeds over 10/1. Maybe BGAN might be cheaper. But you aren't watching 4K TV on that