A monthly fee of $5,000 will be charged for Starlink satellite internet on boats
Just a few days after the FCC gave Starlink permission to provide internet service to cars, the firm has introduced a toughized version of its dish for boats, ships, and yachts. The satellite internet provider claims that Starlink Maritime may offer download speeds of up to 350Mbps at sea, which isn't too shabby for boats that didn't have access to the internet before. It won't come cheap: customers will pay $10,000 for hardware alone before using it.
Customers can cancel Epoch's service at any time and restart it at a later date. The cost of canceling the service is $5,000 per month, while restarting it is free. Customers may pick when to begin their pause, but they will still be charged for the whole month if they restart the service. In comparison, Starlink for Homes' hardware costs only $599 compared to $110 monthly for the service.
On Twitter, SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk revealed that Starlink Maritime's antennae differ from the home version. They're "dual, high-performance terminals," he explained, with the ability to keep a connection in rough seas and heavy storms. The terminals were also built to endure "endless salt spray, strong winds, and storms." Musk claimed that while SpaceX has been paying $150,000 per month for a "much worse connection" on its vessels, it hasn't spent any money yet on satellite internet access.
At the moment, the Starlink Maritime page says that it allows you to connect from "the most remote seas across the globe," however this is worth noting as its coverage area is still restricted. Currently, it will only operate in coastal waters of the United States (not including Alaska), Europe (except for parts of Norway, Sweden and Finland), Australia, Brazil, Chile, much of southern Australia and New Zealand. In 2022, Starlink plans to expand connectivity to additional areas.
Long before Elon Musk's SpaceX unveiled plans to connect moving vehicles to the Starlink network, it had dreams of doing so and even showed a ruggedized dish for boats and planes way back in 2021. It's simply been a few days since the Federal Communications Commission gave permission for a new category of terminals for satellite internet service "to meet the rising customer demands that now demand connection while on the move."