Starlink is a satellite internet constellation deployed and managed by SpaceX. The goal of Starlink is to provide high-speed internet access to underserved and remote areas around the world. The constellation consists of thousands of small satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO), which communicate with ground stations and user terminals (antennas) to deliver internet connectivity.
By deploying a large number of satellites in LEO, Starlink reduces latency and increases internet speeds compared to traditional satellite internet services such as Viasat and Hughes, which typically rely on satellites in higher orbits. With the decreased latency and higher speeds, it makes voice and video connections possible over the connection without noticeable delay to any participants.
Starlink internet is a beacon of hope to organizations with offices and people in difficult to serve locations by traditional internet service providers. Starlink’s deployment and performance allows customers to avoid costly construction and long timelines for buildouts of traditional broadband services.
As Starlink has continued to expand their coverage through the deployment of more satellites it now can provide coverage to even in some of the most remote locations. For the first time, companies are able to provide a diverse and redundant second or third connection to sites where historically they have had to throw their hands up and say "well, that site just can’t get anything else.”
Starlink, historically, has only been sold using a direct-to-consumer model. Businesses that wanted to deploy Starlink were forced into a model that mirrored the early days of broadband. They were required to prepay for equipment and setting up autopay on credit cards. The organizations who have taken the leap have been happy to have it but have been left with unanswered questions about what exactly this is costing us or what do I do when it breaks.
Starlink support was handled via digital channels including social media and account teams were not assigned to accounts. This presented significant challenges to resolving billing, performance, or account issues.
This week has brought a slew of changes to how businesses can procure Starlink and get the support they need. They have now opened distribution to aggregators and other telecom partners to serve the enterprise. These distributors and carriers can provide technical support, management, and consolidated billing resolving many of the challenges and questions Enterprise buyers had about using Starlink's services.
With these changes, Eclipse can now recommend Starlink as a key component to your network infrastructure. Starlink offers many benefits over traditional offerings such as introducing the ability for remote locations to introduce redundancy utilizing a high speed and low latency connection, reducing and removing risk of having 2 circuits provided by the same last mile provider and reducing the push and pull inside of enterprises who want to advance their connectivity options while not wanting to manage a new vendor/technology.
Ready to explore if Starlink is the right fit for your business. Contact us here to learn more.