Elon Musk’s SpaceX begins testing Starlink broadband in the UK

LONDON – SpaceX’s Starlink satellite broadband service is now being tested in the UK after being licensed by UK telecom regulator Ofcom.

Starlink received a “network license for ground stations,” an Ofcom spokesman told CNBC on Tuesday. SpaceX did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.

The £ 200 ($ 272) per year license allows Starlink to sell satellite dishes and other communications equipment in the UK, allowing people to pick up signals transmitted by Starlink’s network of satellites.

Founded in 2002 by Elon Musk, SpaceX is an aerospace manufacturer and space company. It announced it was making the Starlink subdivision in 2015.

Musk, who is now the richest person in the world, has said he wants to improve internet access in parts of the world not currently served by broadband providers. He plans to do this by putting thousands of small telecom satellites into low Earth orbit that can beam super-fast, low-latency internet to the ground.

In an interview last March, Musk said SpaceX could earn up to $ 30 billion a year by offering broadband. He said Starlink “will be useful to telecom companies because Starlink will serve the toughest customers” and added that 5G is not great for rural areas because “you need coverage”.

Starlink, which will compete with Britain’s OneWeb, aims to have 1,440 of its 260 kg (570 lb) satellites in orbit by the end of 2021.

The company, which focuses primarily on connecting rural areas where the internet is unreliable or unavailable, has been inviting people in the US and Canada to try its service since October.

According to reports and social media users, it is now inviting people in the UK via email. Starlink charges UK customers £ 439 for the satellite dish and other communications equipment, as well as £ 89 in monthly costs and £ 54 in postage.

Those testing the service can expect data speeds between 50 megabits per second (Mbps) and 150 Mbps, according to reports. The average broadband speed in the UK is 64 Mbps, but people in rural areas often struggle to get close to it. It is unclear how many homes and offices are currently using Starlink’s service.

SpaceX created a UK entity in London called Starlink Internet Services last August, according to a document filed with Companies House in the UK Companies Register.

A photo of what appears to be one of the UK’s first Starlink deliveries was shared on Reddit by Philip Hall, who lives in rural Devon, in the south west of England.

“As a fancier with no prospect of fiber (broadband) in the short term, I signed up for the beta pretty early,” Hall told CNBC via Reddit on Thursday.

Hall, who once deployed air defense networks for the British military, said, “The technical capabilities here, at the consumer level, are astounding.”

In terms of performance, Hall said he can consistently hit 80Mbps download speeds at home.

He suspects he has a Starlink dish because the company wants data for a commercial rollout and he is at the correct latitude.

Hall described the setup saying it’s like many other devices. He installed an app on his Android phone, checked that the dish had a clear view of the sky (something that was easy in the Devon countryside), and tucked it in. “The app asks you to register a name and password and you’re cooking,” he said.

Greece, Germany and Australia have also reportedly approved Starlink’s offer.