> satellite internet is cool, but it doesn’t serve a real need
Starlink’s 100 Mbps [1] is faster than many European countries fixed averages and most’s mobile medians [2].
Also, the second sentence of this article cites the need: “critical scenarios where terrestrial networks are absent or disrupted, as observed, for instance, in the unfolding war in Ukraine.”
I am not sure how fair that comparison is. E.g., in my country most people can get 1GiB downstream/50 MiB upstream through cable internet (even in small villages), more than 50% of the households can get fiber with 1GiB downstream/1GiB upstream.
Yet the average fixed download/upload speed is 123/40 MiB. Why? Most people just want enough bandwidth for Netflix (TV is reserved separately), Youtube, and basic surfing. So, they'll go with the cheapest subscription, which is usually 100MiB downstream (except on budget providers), pulling down the averages. Starlink-like bandwidth is really cheap on cable/fiber. Heck, I have unlimited 5G and I think it's only 25 Euro per month, less than a third of a Starlink subscription and the bandwidth is usually much better. Even in the small village my parents live I get 100-200MiB downstream.
At any rate, it is no problem at all to get 1GiB downstream in most of the country and much cheaper than Starlink (we currently pay 35 Euro p/m for 1GBit up/down). For European countries that can't offer this yet, it makes more sense to invest in 5G and wired broadband.
That said, I think the EU should also do this. Satellite internet is good for remote areas and in the case of calamities (war, disaster, etc.) and crucial infrastructure should be in European hands.
> Starlink’s 100 Mbps [1] is faster than many European countries fixed averages and most’s mobile medians [2].
But Starlink also doesn’t deliver those 100 Mbps reliably. Starlink is an awesome choice if you are in an underserved region but in most EU countries most people have better alternatives.
The capacity of Starlink is very low for many countries in the EU. If people were to actually use it at scale it wouldn’t work.
Starlink’s 100 Mbps [1] is faster than many European countries fixed averages and most’s mobile medians [2].
Also, the second sentence of this article cites the need: “critical scenarios where terrestrial networks are absent or disrupted, as observed, for instance, in the unfolding war in Ukraine.”
[1] https://bigtechquestion.com/2022/01/10/broadband/how-fast-is...
[2] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_by_...