On February 2, Musk manually forwarded a newly launched "StarLink Advanced Service" launched by SpaceX, providing a set of high-performance antenna assembly package services for commercial users and super users. Behind the premium package is, of course, the high price.
According to the official details page of SpaceX, this StarLink service premium package mainly includes:
Deliveries are scheduled to begin in the second quarter of Q2 2022 at the earliest;
Specialized in providing more rugged and better performance user terminals, including larger rectangular antennas and upgraded routers;
Commitment to provide 7X24 priority services, can enjoy broadband access services: network speed 150 ~ 500 megabytes (Mbps), delay 20 ~ 40 milliseconds (ms);
Premium package price: terminal price of $2500 per set, booking deposit of $500, monthly tariff of $500;
Premium packages target small business users (small offices, stores, etc.) and super users.
People familiar with StarLink know that compared with the current StarLink service package Better Than Nothing, the latest so-called "premium package" can be described as mixed.
First look at the high price: the "Premium Package" terminal costs $2500, the upfront payment is $500, and the monthly tariff is $500 - this is 5 times the current price code of ordinary StarLink service code (terminal price 499 US dollars + Network fee 99 US dollars / month, the advance payment of 500 US dollars remains unchanged, and the price is basically the same in 25 countries around the world).
From October 2020, SpaceX launched the Beta Than Nothing (better than nothing) beta Version starlink broadband fee standard. Although this standard is higher than initially estimated, it is still lower than the high-end service standards of rivals Viasat and HughesNet.
Look at the service enjoyed by users: download network speed 150 to 500 megabytes (Mbps), delay 20 to 40 milliseconds (ms), promise to provide 7×24-day priority service.
At present, ordinary StarLink users enjoy downloading network speeds of 100 to 200 megabytes (at the beginning of the launch in October 2020, the promised network speed was 50 to 150 megabytes), and the delay of 20 to 40 milliseconds remained unchanged.
Comparing the service standards corresponding to the price, this means that the premium package user group needs to pay 5 times the high price, but only gets the minimum guarantee (150 megabytes vs.100 megabytes) of 33% faster than the average user's worst internet speed. Of course, measured by optimism, premium package users can get the best experience with 5 times the price, which is 2.5 times faster than the maximum internet speed of the average user.
Although for ordinary users or most people, the so-called premium package service is not cost-effective, or even very low cost performance, but the reality is reality, there will be a large number of small business users, super users to pay for it, simply to enjoy the user experience beyond the general level.
Think about it, those camera enthusiasts who are willing to pursue the latest model for only a few parameter upgrades, audio enthusiasts, it is not difficult to understand that the StarLink Premium package will definitely circle a specific user group.
At the same time, we have reason to believe that as technology iterates and reduces costs, the charging standard will continue to decrease. This is also the business strategy that Musk has always used. Just like Tesla has walked the path from high to low, from the initial Roadster sports car, gradually to model S, Model X, Model Y, Model 3, all the way down, until the affordable civilian. As long as the carrying capacity is strong enough, the more users starlink is, the more profitable SpaceX is, and it has an absolute advantage.
SpaceX is currently officially running 1515 Starlink satellites, with about two batches of rapid deployment of Starlink constellations per month, each deployment of 60 satellites can provide 1tb of bandwidth, can support 40,000 users at the same time online ultra-high-definition screen brushing. At present, the test download rate is 100~200M (megabits per second), and the future target is 1Gbps (gigabits per second). Because of the use of low-orbit satellites, laser links, reduced gateways, optimized architecture and other key designs, StarLink broadband can provide global users with a low-latency transmission of only 20 milliseconds, which is an order of magnitude higher than the current 250-millisecond latency transmission of the most cutting-edge satellite communications.
For high-frequency traders with a lot of money, StarChain broadband with ultra-low latency is also very attractive. If you trade billions of dollars a few minutes a second before your counterparty, it means that you are likely to make a considerable profit. The broader implication is that this ultra-low latency feature allows remote online services such as telemedicine, distance education, video conferencing, and online gaming to be virtually free of latency.
Obviously, the Starlink constellation is especially suitable for the vast remote areas, the broadband Internet is not yet accessible, the global Internet region can not be freely enjoyed, the sea carrier, high-frequency trading financial institutions, the US military and so on.
As a global giant constellation, the positioning of the starlink constellation is the clearest and highest-profile: to create the world's largest satellite constellation, the world's largest and fastest satellite broadband Internet, with high density, full coverage, high throughput, low latency and other outstanding features. Relying on SpaceX's low-cost, efficient launch model, StarLink is most likely to be the ultimate winner.