Recently RS Acess tried to convince FCC that their multichannel video data distribution service (MVDDS) has better spectrum bandwidth without intervening. However, Mr. David Goldman who was present during the presentation believed that the study submitted was flawed. And added that SpaceX Starlink could provide internet to both rural and urban areas.
Goldman wrote to the FCC on August 2, “While SpaceX’s system is designed to optimize for rural areas initially, it will provide service in urban areas. Already had extensive demand for urban service. Starlink has over half a million backorders in just the first 6 months of beta testing with no marketing and only a third of its satellites deployed. Demand will grow rapidly as the system deploys. SpaceX has already applied to increase the number of blankets licensed user terminals to 5,000,000 [million].”
One assumption used in the RKF study is that even if SpaceX employed 2.5 million user terminals their high bandwidth will be able to provide 5G terminals to the urban sector. This is pointing out that the interface will be low as SpaceX focuses on rural locations. Below are the details provided in the study.
The RKF study doesn’t mention how many ground stations will be installed or other adequate details related to the setup. Whereas SpaceX Starlink setup is already planned and is going accordingly. The Starlink internet is already popular all over the world that there are 500,000 pre-orders. This includes the countries where Starlink is yet to receive permission from the respective government.
Additionally, the study said that their 12GHz bandwidth with 5G can be beneficial economically worth $1 trillion. However, Goldman’s statement argued that the study has more assumptions that are exactly the opposite. Points out that there is no clarity in their aim, whether RS Acess plans to provide services in both urban and rural or only rural. No matter what their plans are, Goldman’s statement points out that the study is flawed with no proper details.
Internet to unserved and underserved customers in the US
SpaceX currently has permission to operate only 1 million Starlink dishes. As they launch more Starlink satellites into orbit, density will increase. They plan to launch around 12,000 satellites in seven years, which will be 1,740 satellites this year. The company officially started providing services to 90,000 customers. Originally the company’s aim was to provide access to internet services in rural and remote areas.
Currently, 30 million people in America are unserved and underserved. As supported by Goldman, Starlink can provide internet to the unserved and underserved in every location. It could be people from urban, rural, or suburban.
