How Might Starlink Fit Into Your Business’ Telecom Network?
Network connectivity through low Earth orbiting satellites is not a new revelation in the telecom space, as providers such as HughesNet and Viacom have been connecting remote locations through this technology for decades. However, born out of a desire to get “as many rockets into space as possible” to further its interplanetary objectives, SpaceX has been launching Starlink satellites at a rapid pace, with nearly 7,000 currently deployed and growing. Enterprises that had a poor experience with satellite services in the past are finding that Starlink is a very different offering.
The result is more reliable satellite connectivity, in more locations, with faster speeds than were previously available (up to 220 Mbps download and 25 Mbps upload). But does that mean this technology makes sense for your business? There’s a lot more to take into consideration when evaluating where, and how, Starlink may fit into your network design.
Geographical Footprint
Clearly, this is most obvious reason you may be considering Starlink. There are certain industries where satellite connectivity makes the most sense due to “digital desert” challenges. G2 clients in the oil and gas exploration and utility industries as well as those with remote retail or rural manufacturing locations and those with isolated global sites are all excellent candidates for Starlink. If your business locations are in metro areas or regions with strong 5G wireless coverage, Starlink is probably not the best fit due to less expensive options, at least for now.
Network Redundancy and Resiliency
Even for sites where you have an affordable dedicated connection, Starlink makes a strong business case as a secondary or tertiary connection in your SD-WAN environment. Often, wired connectivity enters the building through the same conduit, so even if you’ve planned for POP or carrier diversity, if there’s a breach of that conduit, Starlink would provide a resilient option. As well, if you’ve watched the news the past year and all of the horrific hurricane, flooding and fire impacted areas of the country, you’ve seen Starlink being deployed during these natural disasters to support mission critical connectivity.
Deployment.
Another attractive aspect of Starlink is the speed and ease of deployment. Businesses that need to get new sites up and running immediately can’t afford to wait for cabling and potentially special construction to enable connectivity, which can take weeks, or months, to install. Starlink can be self-installed in most instances and has partnered in the past year with resellers like Granite and MetTel that can provide managed deployment support if needed. G2 has observed use cases where Starlink is utilized as an interim solution to connect new sites until a dedicated connection is established, allowing for businesses to ramp up faster.
Cost Considerations
Despite some of the interesting aspects of Starlink discussed above, at this time, it is not always the most cost-effective option. There are upfront costs to purchase the equipment and business offerings that vary based on whether your use case is fixed location or mobile and have limitations and risk of speed throttling if you exceed your “premium” data allotment. Understand that Starlink was initially focused on residential use cases and only recently has really started to focus on enterprise requirements and offerings. As new options and custom offers become available, G2 assists our clients with evaluating how they may fit, or not fit, into the overall enterprise network connectivity roadmap. Many of the customer Starlink offerings are not publicly available and can only be obtained through professional negotiations, including custom offers specific to your unique requirements. Of course, while Starlink is not the cheapest option in most cases, it is definitely less expensive than running fiber to extremely remote locations.
Other Factors
How Starlink fits into your telecom environment depends on not only the items above but also the specific nuances of your business and organization. Things like technical requirements (IP addressing, quality of service, applications utilized, firewall/security, PoS), payment capabilities (until recently Starlink only accepted payment cards), disaster recovery requirements, likelihood of inclement weather and how you manage and monitor your network all factor into the decision to consider Starlink as part of your network design. It is a fluid situation for business customers which will continue to evolve, so it does, at a minimum, make sense to reevaluate the options and capabilities each year. G2 is not an agent and has no affiliation with Starlink, or any service provider, which allows us to serve our clients as a carrier-agnostic, trusted advisor.