(Credit: Starlink.com)
SpaceX is advertising a new Starlink service that can deliver gigabit speeds for the satellite internet service—but only if customers pay $1.25 million up front.
In return, SpaceX won’t just send a dish; it’ll help build an entire facility dedicated to receiving up to 10Gbps in broadband speeds from the company’s fleet of orbiting satellites.
The company has updated Starlink.com site to promote the new “Community Gateways” option. The offer isn’t a new service tier for consumers, but rather a business program meant to appeal to internet service providers trying to find ways to bring high-speed broadband to remote areas.
(Credit: Starlink.com)“With Community Gateways, Starlink satellites are able to deliver fiber-like speeds with local providers distributing connectivity to homes, businesses, and governments using last-mile fiber, fixed wireless and mobile wireless,” SpaceX said on its website.
In September, the company revealed it had built its first Community Gateway for residents of Unalaska, a town located on an island near Alaska. Local ISP OptimERA is now using the satellite connectivity from the gateway to bolster the broadband for most of its customer base.
(Credit: Starlink.com)The Starlink site adds: “Our first Community Gateway on the remote island of Unalaska, Alaska, is able to provide 10 gigabits of symmetric uplink and downlink throughput, enough to serve thousands of new customers while operating at over 99% uptime.”
Images of the Community Gateway in Unalaska also show that the equipment looks very similar to Starlink’s existing ground station facilities, which are connected to fiber networks and beam internet to the company's orbiting satellites above.
It now appears SpaceX has decided to take the Community Gateway concept and expand it to all interested ISPs. But the offering won’t be cheap. In addition to the $1.25 million upfront fee, the company plans on charging business customers $75,000 per Gbps per month. ISPs will also need to provide the land, power, and “lifting equipment.”