New Delhi – Elon Musk-run affordable satellite internet service Starlink is expanding fast – from Antarctica to Royal Caribbean cruise ships – but its speed has decreased in almost all countries in which it operates as more users opt for it.
According to a new report from network intelligence firm Ookla, the median download speeds for Starlink fell across Canada, France, Germany, New Zealand, the UK and the US, dropping 9 – 54% from the second quarter of 2021 to the same time this year as more users signed up for the service.
Starlink's data upload speeds also slowed, with speeds decreasing across all of the countries.
However, Starlink still reached a median download speed of at least 60 megabits per second (Mbps) in North America during the second quarter, which is more than enough for at least one connected device to do almost everything on the internet including streaming video, downloading games, and chatting on video with friends and family.
Satellite connectivity is coming to mobile, with Starlink's new partnership with T-Mobile and new mobile devices becoming satellite enabled.
Starlink isn't stopping there – they're trying to get into aircraft, cruise ships and cars.
“But they're not the only satellite provider making moves – Viasat is launching its Viasat-3 fleet, OneWeb is combining business with Eutelsat, and Amazon is sending 3 236 Project Kuiper satellites into orbit,” said the report.
Starlink latency fared a little better with latency remaining relatively flat (though high when compared to fixed broadband) in most countries.
Musk said this week that Starlink, the satellite internet division of the tech billionaire’s rocket company, was now active on all continents, including Antarctica.
He also said “another batch with lasers reaches orbit” after the deployment of 54 Starlink satellites was confirmed by the company.
Starlink can reportedly offer speeds of about 50 – 200Mbps.