Starlink offering free internet access for 30 days for Hurricane Helene victims

Post by axus » Thu, Oct 03, 2024, 9:16 PM UTC

tjohns wrote: post #87

delichon wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apparently in the US you require the "requisite character qualifications to be and remain a Commission (Amateur Radio) licensee." https://www.arrl.org/news/fcc-upholds-decision-to-revoke-ama... Starlink's character qualification is whether you pay their bill.

Starlink itself is the FCC license holder, not you as a private user. This means that Starlink is the one that needs to stay in the good graces of the government, and inherits the obligation to monitor the activities of their users. I guarantee you if you're using Starlink to commit crimes, they're going to drop you as a customer.

Post by svnt » Thu, Oct 03, 2024, 9:25 PM UTC

internetblimp wrote: post #144

svnt wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So someone who doesn’t need to make money is building blimps to revolutionize air transport and you are proposing that company is going to then halt business during storms and travel to and float over hurricane recovery areas?

yep exactly. he has stated (as the article does) that delivering humanitarian aid to disaster areas is one of the main goals

Post by numpad0 » Thu, Oct 03, 2024, 9:28 PM UTC

hammock wrote: post #85

jagtstronaut wrote: post #17

Despite the hate on the promo the tech they offer is still pretty cool. Only way I knew my in-laws were safe near Asheville was because one of their neighbors had starlink and a generator. Took a week for them to get power and cell phone service back and there is no way to get to them without a helicopter so if it wasn't for the product we would have just learned that they were alright.

>Despite the hate on the promo What does "hate on the promo" mean?

Post by Retric » Thu, Oct 03, 2024, 9:32 PM UTC

CorrectHorseBat wrote: post #149

Retric wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let’s be pessimistic and say it’s ~25km^2 with current designs. Surface area of the earth is 510,064,472 km² so you estimate limits things to ~20 million satellites X however they can slice up the available spectrum. IE essentially unlimited satellites. As of September 2024 they have 6,371 operational satellites and ~ 4 million customers globally.

How is that relevant? Adding satellites over the Pacific doesn't improve New York's service. The question is how dense of a population they can serve, not how many satellites Starlink could theoretically have.

Post by pkaye » Thu, Oct 03, 2024, 9:33 PM UTC

catlikesshrimp wrote: post #21

svnt wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is weird what happens when you privatize so much and then find out too late it isn’t profitable for companies to have fleets of emergency internet blimps primed and ready to go 24/7.

The only mobile provider in Costa Rica was government owned, hugely profitable, subsidized internet and landlines, and was mandated to provide internet to every single citizen. In urban areas, they had to make sure every single house had mobile coverage. And courts made them comply. Then came the US around year 2002 and forced the country to a free market, and paradise was lost. Everything is US level now (more expen…