SpaceX is seeking approval from Ofcom for an amendment to its existing gateway license, which would allow Starlink’s mega constellation of ultrafast broadband satellites in low-Earth orbit (LEO) to reach capacity, for example by expanding the number of gateway antennas at various sites in the UK. and the adoption of more bands.
The provider currently has 5,874 LEO satellites in orbit around the Earth (altitudes of about 500 to 600 km) and is in the process of adding thousands more by the end of 2027. Customers in the UK pay from £75 per month for a 30-day term, plus £449 for hardware (lately reduced to £225 or £150 if refurbished) on the ‘Standard’ plan, which promises web latency of 25-50ms, roughly 25-100Mbps and c. 5-10Mbps downloads.
To operate this network in the UK, the provider currently holds several Non-Geostationary Ground Station (NGSO) gateway licenses, which allow its NGSO formula to connect to the internet giant’s terrestrial satellite dishes. SpaceX needs to upgrade 4 of them to help build its capacity and “meet the growing demand for its broadband services” (primarily to service its newer Gen 2 satellites).
Specifically, SpaceX has permission from Ofcom to increase the number of antennas hosted at 4 of its remaining seven sites: Fawley (license number 12nine3217), Isle of Man (license number 24nine304/1), Wherstead (license number 12nine3534) and Woodwalton (license number 12nine3534). License number 12nine3303). Lately, entry sites have been allowed to operate with up to nine Ka-band satellite dishes; they cater to consumers in the UK and adjacent countries.
SpaceX’s request to Ofcom
➤ 24 more antennas at Fawley, Wherstead and Woodwalton, bringing the total number of antennas at those sites to 32. It plans to put those new antennas into operation in the bands: 27. 5-28. 0525 GHz, 28. 4445-29. 0605 GHz, 29. 4525-30 GHz. .
➤ 32 more antennas at its Isle of Man site, bringing the total to 40. SpaceX already has all the frequencies it needs to use (27. 5-30 GHz) at the Isle of Man site.
“Our initial assessment is that the replacement requested through SpaceX is not expected to unduly affect other licensed non-GSO facilities, long-term non-GSO facilities, GSO facilities, or constant links operating on the same frequencies of use,” says the regulator’s consultation, which will remain open for responses until May 31, 2024.
In addition, satellite operator Inmarsat (Viasat) has applied for an NGSO earth station network license for its new GX-10 non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) satellite formula (here). “Inmarsat has announced plans to use the GX-10 to manufacture the Global Xpress satellite formula over the polar region, offering satellite communications to advertising consumers in government, defence, aviation and the sea,” Ofcom said.
Inmarsat’s proposed service domain covers latitudes above 65 N and its satellites will also provide intermittent service in parts of the UK; This is not their number one focus. The service will use the Ka-band frequencies of 19. 7 to 20. 2 GHz and 29. 5 to 30 GHz. Ofcom is consulting on all of this until 31 May 2024, but has tentatively proposed approving the application.
My popular Starlink subscription exceeds three hundred Mbps and rarely goes below one hundred Mbps. Pings range from 20 to 50 ms.
I’ve been using Starlink full time for over 6 months now and I agree, overall it’s been a wonderful experience, over 100, regularly up to 300, but some multithreaded downloads have taken me to 400.
In the absence of full fiber, FTTC is a brilliant choice. Expensive, yes, but fast, yes too.
Now I’ve put mine in roaming mode and paused it because it’s out and about. . .
I pay £50 on BT for 100, I actually get around 70 downloads and between five and 20 downloads, so it’s expensive compared to reasonable alternative networks.
john
It’s only reasonable if it’s available. If nothing is available, you could also charge £1 a month. . .
If there is any form of FTTP available, then watch Starlink, end of story.
@John
What kind of connection/circumstances do you have? Because it’s expensive, even by operating room standards, unless there’s something else going on, for example, the possible options for ISPs are limited.
Yes, Starlink can be a lot cheaper, look at BT’s prices, I have the hardware as a backup if the main line goes down or something happens to BT’s infrastructure.
What a surprise, in the UK we pay more than in the most evolved countries. These costs are too high.
Explain?
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