Launched at the end of 2020, SpaceX’s satellite internet service, Starlink, has had a mixed start in France. Faced with legal and administrative obstacles, facing local opposition in some of the sites where it wanted to install its terrestrial sites, Elon Musk’s satellite operator nevertheless intends to move up a gear on the French market.
To do this, Starlink management has already halved the price of its subscription in France, from 99 euros per month to 50 euros per month, while lowering the price of its connection kit to 480 euros (for a cap on data consumption set at 250 GB per month starting in October).
Traveling to Paris, the president of Starlink, Gwinne Shotwell, says: “interest in Starlink has increased considerably since we lowered our prices”. And to deliver some figures on the enthusiasm for its consumer service, which allows residents of underserved rural areas to benefit from a broadband connection. It now has 700,000 customers worldwide, for 6,500 subscribers in France (and 75,000 on the Old Continent).
Launch of the offer dedicated to SMEs
This is only the beginning, promises the leader, who is counting on the massification of its constellation of satellites in low orbit to accelerate the availability of the service. SpaceX would today have between 2,000 and 3,000 satellites in orbit above our heads, a total which is enriched each week by around sixty new devices launched thanks to the “house rockets” of the American giant, the Falcons 9.
Future next-generation Starlink satellites are expected to be launched by Starship, SpaceX’s new launch vehicle still under development.
After concocting a general public offer, an offer dedicated to mobility as well as another dedicated to maritime transport, the SpaceX staff also intends to address companies. The American giant has just rolled out this business-stamped offer in France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom. Aimed at SMEs and a maximum of 20 users per offer, it promises speeds ranging from 100 to 350 Mbit/s, for a latency of between 20 and 40 ms, with no data consumption limitation.
A future still dashed
The satellite internet operator is also eyeing the promising market of mobile satellite connection. A market that has come back to the fore since Apple confirmed, during the launch of its iPhone 14, that its new smartphones could support satellite connectivity for emergency calls in North America.
The fact remains that competition is fierce for Starlink, in a booming satellite internet market… and that the satellite operator could well be forced to do without the manna of 885 million dollars in American subsidies – which was previously promised to him as part of the plan put in place by Washington to broadcast the Internet by satellite in the regions of the United States where Internet connections are rare or non-existent – following the rejection of his request by the American regulator. telecoms, the FCC.
If the management of SpaceX challenged this decision, it does not do its business, while competition from other players, American, European or Chinese is increasingly felt. It remains to be seen whether the launch of the American giant’s new generation satellites will arrive in time to allow it to establish itself for good in this sizeable market.