On Tuesday, September 1, 2020, 11:05:10 PM PDT, grarpamp <grarpamp@gmail.com> wrote: On 8/28/20, jim bell <jdb10987@yahoo.com> wrote:
"Starlink's speed tests may look impressive, but experts say SpaceX's satellite-internet project is unlikely to win any federal subsidies "https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-starlink-beta-speedtest-results-bandw... Jim Bell's comment: I doubt SpaceX NEEDS any Federal subsidies for Starlink. If it is a working system (and these reports seem to show that it works well) then it will provide competition to the incumbent wire- or fiber Internet services we have been locked into for too long.
If they accepted an assortment of major cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Bitcoin_Cash, Monero, Zcash, etc and enabled fully prepaid service and user owned prepaid hardware, they might get a lot more customers around the world from those. More customers = less subsidies. And accepting cryptocurrency is a big marketing win that matches Starlink's tech image.
I'm hoping that Starlink management will become rather UNcooperative with the various nations in which their customers reside. Unlike fiber-line internet, which must "play nice" with the tyrant-in-chief for fear he will cut them off, in principle Starlink could smuggle in their "UFO on a stick" devices, which could be hidden and thus operate "unauthorized". I talk to a person who communicates with Philipines and Cambodia, and apparently those governments will simply turn off the Internet in those countries. I have also read that India is rather quick on the 'off switch' in neighborhoods. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-50819905 I wonder if a small village could share a single Starlink device, running a WiFi router for local distribution. Jim Bell