The Starlink satellite internet service is now available in 32 countries around the world, the Elon Musk-owned company tweeted. Countries and regions marked on its map as “available,” including parts of Australia, Brazil, Chile, the U.S., Canada, and most of Europe, can ship their equipment “immediately.” The service has been steadily expanding, offering 12-hour service in September 2021 and has been stable since coming out of beta last year in February, with availability in 12 countries as of September 2021 and 25 countries as of February.
See also: Elon Musk: Russia is trying to hack Starlink in Ukraine
The Starlink map shows areas marked as “available” (light blue), “waitlisted” (medium blue), and “coming soon” (dark blue). The service has a potential near-global reach at latitudes below about 60 degrees north, but availability is provided by country.
See also: Elon Musk offers Internet with Starlink to Ukrainians
The kits recently went up in price and now cost $549 for pre-orders or $599 for new orders, and include a satellite dish, a base, a power supply, and a WiFi router. Service prices have increased from $99 to $110 per month. Users can now add a portability feature, for an additional $25 per month.
The company is primarily targeting remote areas that can’t connect otherwise, for starters. In the US, it’s offering very respectable speeds of 104.97/12.04 Mbps (download/upload) as of Q4 2021, close to fixed internet speeds in the US. In theory, speeds will increase as the company adds more satellites and ground stations. Latency is slower than fixed broadband, but much better than other satellite options, such as HughesNet and Viasat.
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Starlink has also faced criticism. Astronomers have complained that the thousands of satellites in its constellation have interfered with observations by Earth , and the company recently lost 40 satellites in a geomagnetic storm. Additionally, Starlink's operating license in France has been temporarily revoked by the country's regulator ARCEP, with a final decision expected soon.
Information source: engadget.com
