SpaceX’s Starlink has introduced its innovative Community Gateways program, offering fiber-like internet speeds to some of the most remote locations on Earth.
This groundbreaking service starts at $75,000 per Gbps per month, with a one-time upfront cost of $1,250,000.
The Community Gateways program is set to revolutionize satellite internet with download and upload speeds of up to 10 Gbps and latency under 99 milliseconds. These gateways will enable local providers to distribute high-speed connectivity to homes, businesses, and government entities through a combination of last-mile fiber, fixed wireless, and mobile wireless solutions (via PCMag).
The traffic from these Community Gateways will transit through Starlink’s global laser mesh network, utilizing high bandwidth Gateways that operate in a dedicated Ka spectrum band. The Community Gateway Kit includes all required Starlink hardware for installation, with customers only needing to provide space, power, and lifting equipment.
Starlink’s first Community Gateway has been successfully established on the remote island of Unalaska, Alaska, capable of providing symmetric uplink and downlink throughput of 10 gigabits, sufficient to serve thousands of customers with over 99% uptime.
Emmett Fitch, CEO of OptimERA xG, praised the Community Gateway as a game changer. “The Community Gateway represents the beginning of something great for delivering Gbps speeds to anywhere on the planet. Areas that never dreamed of having this capability will now be able to develop new ideas for making use of this technology. Where we are going we don’t need roads,” he stated.
Starlink encourages communities interested in their Gateway services to get in touch for more information on how to bring unparalleled connectivity to their area. As Starlink continues to expand its offerings, it stands at the forefront of providing high-speed internet access to locations where traditional broadband has been unable to reach.
Significant improvements have been made to @Starlink latency (ping) & many more to come.
Target is <20ms.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 16, 2024
