Quote:
Originally Posted by OtinG
Land based internet provider monopolies will still exist. My town only allows Spectrum to peddle it at current. Starlink and others might eventually come online, but at what cost? Probably they will charge similar to land based providers, and might even use their multi-year contract systems. And how well will satellites work at providing uninterrupted and adequately fast service? DirecTV certainly sucked and was constantly dropping signals when a few fluffy white clouds passed over my house. My friends with DishTV had the same complaints. I assume there will be issues with satellite internet as well. And of course availability of reliable satellite internet could take years for many of us.
Bottom line is does it really matter which master has you by the short hairs? No! You will pay about the same regardless of which provider you choose for internet, or which type of internet service you choose.
And relying on 5G is not really an option for many people. Yes I’m grandfathered in to T-Mobile's unlimited data, but the fine print states that after about 5 GB I can expect throttling. And even with the faster speeds of 5G, it likely means I can forget about powering my entertainment addictions solely through 5G.
I think it is extremely naive to think that an internet provider will suddenly come to our rescue. Not gonna happen, ever! We are getting bent over and we can expect more of the same until hell freezes over.
|
The point of Starlink is to be cheaper than wire.
If it isn't it won't get the volume it needs to pay back the $10B investment in satellites. It's cheap or bust and SpaceX doesn't do bust.
Musk has a track record so it won't be dirt cheap but it will be cheap.
(Plus it'll where wire won't go.)