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This is the sad situation in many Pacific nations. ISPs charge a fortune (an absolute not relative fortune) for internet services to very low income populations

This is the sad situation in many Pacific nations. ISPs charge a fortune (an absolute not relative fortune) for internet services to very low income populations. Starlink is of course banned. Meanwhile not far away in New Zealand, with a much wealthier population Starlink is prolific in rural areas. I am sure it’s also super popular in rural Australia.

scarface_74 2y ago
How do you ban something that is in the sky?
- jdminhbg 2y ago
  You ban the importation of satellite dishes, and you don’t let Starlink build ground stations. You can still get around this, just like people still import drugs, but you can make it harder.
- sangnoir 2y ago
  Try broadcasting on a licensed frequency without a license and find out... If the terminals were completely passive, finding smuggled terminals would be much harder.
  - fnordpiglet 2y ago
    Given how tightly beam formed starlink dishes are I wonder how easy they are to locate from any distance outside their transmission vector
- bigfatkitten 2y ago
  "In the sky" does not mean "free from regulation." End users of terminal equipment are still subject to the regulations of the state in which they are located. The ITU Radio Regulations (via national legislation) create obligations on satellite operators to ensure that they do not cause harmful interference to other states' services or to violate those states' sovereignty.
bigfatkitten 2y ago
> I am sure it’s also super popular in rural Australia. It is indeed. https://independentaustralia.net/business/business-display/nbn-and-telcos-feeling-pressure-from-new-satellite-operators,18675 https://independentaustralia.net/business/business-display/n... It is also popular in urban areas. Starlink's availability map shows "sold out" in Brisbane (population 2.5 million) and Perth (2.1 million) because it's much faster than the mediocre VDSL2 services otherwise on offer to most of the population in those cities.

scarface_74 2y ago

How do you ban something that is in the sky?

jdminhbg 2y ago
You ban the importation of satellite dishes, and you don’t let Starlink build ground stations. You can still get around this, just like people still import drugs, but you can make it harder.
sangnoir 2y ago
Try broadcasting on a licensed frequency without a license and find out... If the terminals were completely passive, finding smuggled terminals would be much harder.
- fnordpiglet 2y ago
  Given how tightly beam formed starlink dishes are I wonder how easy they are to locate from any distance outside their transmission vector
bigfatkitten 2y ago
"In the sky" does not mean "free from regulation." End users of terminal equipment are still subject to the regulations of the state in which they are located. The ITU Radio Regulations (via national legislation) create obligations on satellite operators to ensure that they do not cause harmful interference to other states' services or to violate those states' sovereignty.

bigfatkitten 2y ago

> I am sure it’s also super popular in rural Australia. It is indeed. https://independentaustralia.net/business/business-display/nbn-and-telcos-feeling-pressure-from-new-satellite-operators,18675 https://independentaustralia.net/business/business-display/n... It is also popular in urban areas. Starlink's availability map shows "sold out" in Brisbane (population 2.5 million) and Perth (2.1 million) because it's much faster than the mediocre VDSL2 services otherwise on offer to most of the population in those cities.