Elon Musk’s SpaceX is working with the UK government to trial its Starlink technology to try and offer faster broadband in rural locations.
Installations are going ahead in areas in the North Yorkshire Moors, Snowdonia national park and the Lake District for the government to test the viability of satellite technology as an alternative to laying cables for internet connection.
“Ensuring everyone can get a quality internet connection is crucial to our levelling up plans and these trials aim to find a solution to the prohibitively high cost of rolling out cables to far-flung locations,” said digital secretary Michelle Donelan.
Starlink’s network of satellites in low Earth orbit has been expanded by SpaceX into the thousands in recent years to offer high-speed internet across the world regardless of location, with the company adding services in Ukraine to help the defence against Russia this year.
Using a small antenna to receive the satellites’ signals, the need for long cables disappears - making the technology ideal for those in “hard to reach” locations, as described by the government.
Starlink is now available across all of Alaska and Canada → https://t.co/slZbTmYOKV pic.twitter.com/wWMoS8tIx4
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) November 21, 2022
Increasing prospects of satellites for internet coverage has led Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) to begin creating its own network, recently announcing a new factory as part of its Project Kuiper, which could see prototypes launched in early 2023.
Confirmed to still be a priority in the recent autumn statement, the governments £5bn ‘Project Gigabit’ scheme aims to roll out gigabit-capable broadband coverage to 85% of the UK by 2025.
Alongside the trial of Starlink tech, the Department for Ddigital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) also announced a £108mln contract to Northern-Irish provider Fibrus for the connection upgrades of up to 60,000 rural properties in Cumbria.
DCMS minister Michelle Donelan described the deal as the “biggest broadband build to date,” while also outlining that eligible people will be able to apply for vouchers worth up to £4,500 in the new year to pay for their own broadband upgrades.