Elon Musk’s Starlink was trying to beat Jio in India
But Jio used its 1st mover’s advantage to stop them in their tracks
*The SHOCKER? Indian Gov is changing a 138 year old law to bring Starlink back in the game*
*How Elon is rethinking internet & can possibly kill Jio*
In 2016, when most of us were witnessing a business disruption standing in queues to get our hands on the free Jio sim card,
12,869 miles away at Rocket Road, California, a group of engineers were planning a technological disruption.
Their goal? Rethink internet access.
Their solution? Satellite Internet.
Traditionally, we have been using internet that relies on cable wires, fiber optic lines, or cellular networks.
But making cable wires or fiber optic lines available in remote villages & hard terrains is not only costly but highly impractical as well.
And this is where satellite internet & Starlink by Elon Musk comes in.
Satellite Internet uses signals from satellites orbiting the Earth.
And Starlink is a collection of thousands of small satellites orbiting around 350 miles above the Earth.
It is designed to overcome the limitations of traditional internet infrastructure.
And provides high-speed, low-latency internet access to users around the world,
especially in remote and underserved areas.
First, let’s understand how satellite-based internet works.
There are 3 types of satellites used for satellite-based internet connections:
GEO (Geostationary Equatorial Orbit):
These satellites move at the same velocity as Earth and parallel to its rotation.
So they appear to be stationary in the sky.
They orbit the earth at 35,000 km above the surface.
MEO (Medium Earth Orbit):
MEO satellites orbit at a lower altitude than GEO, between 5,000 and 12,000 km above the surface.
Their relative proximity to Earth means they achieve far lower latency than GEO satellites.
LEO (Low Earth Orbit):
LEO satellites occupy the lowest orbit, between 400 – 1,600 km above the surface.
This proximity to Earth makes them ideal for very high-speed, low-latency transmissions.
Starlink uses LEO satellites which revolve around the Earth.
Because of their proximity to Earth, they have less signal travel time.
You can even see them in the night sky as a string of bright lights.
For the satellite internet to work, the user on the ground first connects to the Starlink dish — the user terminal.
The user terminal communicates with nearby Starlink satellites and forms a link to the larger Starlink network.
The satellites then form a mesh network, that allows them to pass data between each other and create global network coverage.
Starlink’s motto is — ‘virtually anywhere on earth without wires or cellphone towers.’
It started its operation in 2019 and true to its motto, it’s already available in over 65 countries,
— covering all 7 continents (including Antarctica!)
But Starlink hasn’t been able to make any progress in India.
Last year, it registered its business via a local unit Starlink Satellite Communications Pvt Ltd.
The company had planned to provide fast internet data at a subsidized price compared to the international market.
It had received 5,000+ pre-orders.
But the government said Starlink Internet Services doesn’t have the license to offer services in India.
And it asked Starlink to return people’s money.
Now, one company’s loss is another company’s gain.
In Feb this year, Reliance Jio partnered up with Luxembourg-based SES to provide satellite-based broadband services in India.
And created a joint venture called Jio Space Technology Ltd.
Their joint venture uses multi-orbit space networks, a combination of GEO & MEO satellites.
Starlink has already experimented with MEO & GEO satellites.
But they switched to LEO satellites to cover more area, provide better connectivity and low latency.
Moreover, Starlink and Jio Space aren’t the only contenders for India’s space spectrum.
By: via Telegram.me/AlliesFin #StockMarket #Bharat
