Starlink loses out on $886 million in rural broadband subsidies::The FCC reaffirmed a decision not to award Starlink a nearly $900 million subsidy for offering 100Mbps/20Mbps low-latency internet service in 35 states.

  • jonne@infosec.pub
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    11 months ago

    Eh, starlink at least works by all accounts. I guess the jury is still out if it’s sustainable as a business because the satellites are deorbiting like crazy.

    • echo64@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      If your business plan involves firing out infinite rockets full of cell towers forever. You should probably just spend the money on copper instead.

      • Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee
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        11 months ago

        I don’t think you quite understand just how remote some people are. Besides, Starlink is also being used on vessels and aircraft, good luck getting copper out to them.

        Also, fibre optic is how the cool people Internet these days.

        • echo64@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          I don’t think you understand that a lot of copper is still less than infinite rockets forever

          • Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee
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            11 months ago

            This is the kind of dumb statement that really gives this platform a bad name. I know people who were quoted a six figure sum to get mains power to their property, fibre would have been a similar cost. And this is people who are at a fixed location, we also have those who are mobile to consider.

            There are people for whom a wired connection to anything is out of the question.

            • alsimoneau@lemmy.ca
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              11 months ago

              The issue with starlink is the choice to be in LEO instead of using geosats. It lowers the latency but it makes the whole project completely unsustainable.

              • Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee
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                11 months ago

                I suspect they’ll eventually move to a slightly higher orbit, where their satellites can last a decade or so, once the technology is more mature.

            • echo64@lemmy.world
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              11 months ago

              Ships don’t need infinite rockets full of infinite cell towers launched forever.

              Maybe when we have fusion power and don’t have to waste the resources. We don’t. We have to choose what we want to use. I say that launching infinite rockets with infinite cell towers forever is not worth being able to watch tiktok in the middle of the Atlantic.

              There’s always actual satellite internet for the needed communications.

              Maybe we should just wait for the subsidies and the investor money that’s actually paying for starlink to run out and see where things quite literally fall.

              • Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee
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                11 months ago

                infinite rockets full of infinite cell towers

                They need 12,000 of them, which isn’t a huge amount considering you’re covering the entire globe.

                • echo64@lemmy.world
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                  11 months ago

                  Per year, forever. Hence infinite rockets with infinite cell towers.

                  • Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee
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                    11 months ago

                    The typical lifespan is 5-7 years, so 2400 per year at worst.

                    You don’t really do math, do you?

      • GBU_28@lemm.ee
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        11 months ago

        This makes zero sense. If that was profitable it would have been done already.

    • spudwart@spudwart.com
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      11 months ago

      They aren’t sustainable because they are de-orbiting but they’re also supposed to be low-cost and high speed.

      If the prices aren’t low-cost, and the speeds continue to decrease, it’s entire purpose is defeated.