Starlink Hits 400k Subscribers, Introduces Portable Dishes

Starlink recently stated to the FCC that it has 400,000 global customers, nearly tripling from the 145,000 customers it had when I last blogged about Starlink in January. This figure includes subscribers across 36 countries, and while Starlink does not specify its US-based subscribership, its broadband service is currently available in 48 states.

Starlink also recently introduced a "portability" feature. For an extra $25 per month, Starlink subscribers can bring and use their satellite dish wherever they want. Portability should be useful for activities like camping, road trips, and generally improving Internet access in rural areas and other hard-to-serve terrains.

Image Copyright: Jud McCraine. Reshared without alterations.

Portability could increase broadband competition on the basis of product quality because it makes Starlink a hybrid between fixed and mobile offerings. The feature could differentiate Starlink from fixed broadband offerings by adding dual fixed-or-mobile capability to a single subscription. And the feature could also differentiate Starlink from existing mobile offerings by enabling mobility without the need to stay in range of wireless infrastructure.

Robert Crandall: Legislators and Regulators Must Exercise Humility

In August, Dr. Robert Crandall, a member of the Free State Foundation’s Board of Academic Advisors, authored a report titled “The Effects of Rapid Technological Change on Regulatory Policies in the Communications Sector.” Dr. Crandall discusses how regulation in industries characterized by rapid technological change often leads to counterproductive constraints on firms.

The report examines four cases studies of regulation in the communications sector:

• The artificial distinction between “local” and “long-distance” calling in telecommunications regulation

• The 1996 Telecommunications Act’s costly failure with regard to local network unbundling

• Deregulation, reregulation, and deregulation of cable television rates

• The AOL-Time Warner Merger

Dr. Crandall uses these examples to explain how well-intentioned regulation can lead to unintended consequences that have detrimental effects on consumers, like foregone investment in broadband infrastructure. He states:

In each of these examples of policymaking in the communications sector, technological change – and the associated market changes – helped to render a policy decision unnecessary or irrelevant. In each case, legislators and regulators could not predict the future changes in market conditions brought about by changing technologies and consumers’ adaptation to these changes, leading to serious policy errors with adverse effects on consumer welfare.

Dr. Crandall concludes that regulators should be careful not to impede investment in new technologies, like 5G, through regulatory interventions. And in the context of mergers, agencies generally should not impose regulatory conditions of approval because oftentimes technological innovation quickly renders the conditions outdated or irrelevant.

As I stated in a blog last week, U.S. mobile data traffic is projected to grow fivefold from 2017 to 2022 and the deployment of 5G technology is expected to create 3 million jobs, $275 billion in investment, and $500 billion in annual economic activity. In order for consumers to enjoy these projected economic benefits, as Dr. Crandall states, legislators and regulators must exercise humility when considering laws and regulations in the dynamic broadband marketplace.