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posted by martyb on Monday October 26 2020, @10:18PM   Printer-friendly
from the disrupting-the-horrible-isp-market-when? dept.

SpaceX Starlink to go South for first time with planned deployment in Texas:

SpaceX has agreed to provide Internet service to 45 families in a Texas school district in early 2021 and to an additional 90 families later on, the school district announced last week. The announcement by Ector County Independent School District (ECISD) in Odessa said it will be the "first school district to utilize SpaceX satellites to provide Internet for students."

"The project will initially provide free Internet service to 45 families in the Pleasant Farms area of south Ector County," the district said. "As the network capabilities continue to grow, it will expand to serve an additional 90 Ector County families."

The Texas location is notable because the ongoing, limited Starlink beta exists only in the northern US, and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has said an upcoming public beta will only be for the northern US and "hopefully" southern Canada. SpaceX has over 700 Starlink satellites in orbit, and will be able to expand the service area as it deploys more of the nearly 12,000 it has been authorized to launch. In Washington state, Starlink has been deployed to rural homes, a remote tribe, and emergency responders and families in wildfire-stricken areas.

The ECISD announcement said the service will begin "early in 2021" without saying exactly when, but an article by the Odessa American newspaper said it will be in January. The total project cost is $300,000, half of which is being provided by Chiefs for Change, a nonprofit group for school-district leaders, according to the Odessa American. Families who are selected will get Internet service for free for one year, the report said.


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  • (Score: -1, Spam) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 26 2020, @10:20PM (3 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 26 2020, @10:20PM (#1069101)

    NO ID2020 NO MICROCHIP NO MARK

    WO2020060606

    Here is the patent for Microsoft 1. WO2020060606 - CRYPTOCURRENCY SYSTEM
    USING BODY ACTIVITY DATA

    Look at the patent number, literally, "world order 2020 666." This from the
    same guy who is publicly saying he wants to put microchip tracking on every
    human on earth to prove you have been vaccinated, to allow you to buy or
    sell.. Bill Gates needs to Beg God for forgiveness. Science with out Gods
    standards is propelling humanity towards a calamity of biblical proportions.
    Even if Bill repents, Elon Musk has made and is rolling out a 5g satellite
    grid around the whole earth and brain chips. This is not a joke, this is
    some fucked up shit..

    - Revelation 13:16:
    And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to
    receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads.

    - Revelation 14:9:
    And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man
    worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or
    in his hand, 10 The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God,
    which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he
    shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy
    angels, and in the presence of the Lamb.

    #=#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#

    MAKE AMERICA LOBOTOMIZED AGAIN
    -------------------------------
    The Untold Story of JFK's Sister, Rosemary Kennedy, and Her Disastrous Lobotomy
    https://people.com/politics/untold-story-of-rosemary-kennedy-and-her-disastrous-lobotomy/ [people.com]

    The Forgotten Story Of Rosemary Kennedy, Who Was Lobotomized So That JFK Could Succeed
    https://allthatsinteresting.com/rosemary-kennedy-lobotomy [allthatsinteresting.com]

    The Truth About Rosemary Kennedy's Lobotomy
    A never-before-seen photo surfaces of the forgotten Kennedy, who, after a disastrous
    lobotomy, was rarely heard from again
    https://people.com/books/rosemary-kennedy-the-truth-about-her-lobotomy/ [people.com]

    When Rosemary was 23 years of age, doctors told her father that a form of psychosurgery
    known as a lobotomy would help calm her mood swings and stop her occasional violent
    outbursts.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosemary_Kennedy#Lobotomy [wikipedia.org]

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 26 2020, @10:29PM (2 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 26 2020, @10:29PM (#1069105)

      Sounds like the 5G rays got into someone's brain already.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 26 2020, @10:36PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 26 2020, @10:36PM (#1069106)

        It happens. He'll waste away in a few weeks, now that he's got it in his head. That's just one more that we won't have to depopulate with the COVID19-plandemic, or the COVID21-plandemic. Wait for the Ebola24-plandemic, that will be the one to die for!

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 26 2020, @10:38PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 26 2020, @10:38PM (#1069107)

        Or even 6G Starlink beta rays.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 26 2020, @11:01PM (3 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 26 2020, @11:01PM (#1069111)

    How did they even calculate that? I figure they'll need a new full ring of satellites, SpaceX can pack 60 per launch. Is that enough? The expected lifetime of those satellites is 5-6 years IIRC, for how long are the schools getting service? How many other customers will be sharing those satellites over their lifetime?

    That USD 300k figure sounds like someone pulled it out of their ass.

    I don't know about construction costs in the US, but for 300k, maybe they could have gotten another ISP to bring fiber to their door?

    Sorry for being so skeptical. America, fuck yeah! Hail Elon!

    • (Score: 2) by mhajicek on Tuesday October 27 2020, @12:08AM

      by mhajicek (51) on Tuesday October 27 2020, @12:08AM (#1069124)

      I can't even get fiber in my Minneapolis suburb. I want SpaceX to shut up and take my money.

      --
      The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
    • (Score: 2) by Freeman on Tuesday October 27 2020, @03:57PM (1 child)

      by Freeman (732) on Tuesday October 27 2020, @03:57PM (#1069330) Journal

      I've got to say, you do have a point with regards to the $300,000 cost. That equates to $2,222 per family, for one year of internet, which would equate to $185/month. That's some expensive internet, twice as expensive as my most expensive point-to-point wireless internet, in the last decade or so. I'm down to about $60 per month for barely good enough internet. Still, if at the end of this project, the families can pay a reasonable amount for good internet, I would say it's well worth it. Odessa is in the middle of the Desert. There is a whole lot of nothing between it and anywhere. It's about 340 miles to DFW or San Antonio from there. Then, there's the nearest "big city" in New Mexico. They're closer to Mexico than any major city center.

      --
      Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
  • (Score: 2) by Rosco P. Coltrane on Tuesday October 27 2020, @04:23AM (6 children)

    by Rosco P. Coltrane (4757) on Tuesday October 27 2020, @04:23AM (#1069181)

    So what's the price? Traffic shaping to favor Facebook and Google? Privacy invasion and tracking?

    TANSTAAFL

    • (Score: 2) by Freeman on Tuesday October 27 2020, @04:00PM (1 child)

      by Freeman (732) on Tuesday October 27 2020, @04:00PM (#1069332) Journal

      The families get free internet. The school pays $300,000.

      --
      Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
      • (Score: 2) by Freeman on Tuesday October 27 2020, @04:05PM

        by Freeman (732) on Tuesday October 27 2020, @04:05PM (#1069337) Journal

        From the Article:

        The ECISD announcement said the service will begin "early in 2021" without saying exactly when, but an article by the Odessa American newspaper said it will be in January. The total project cost is $300,000, half of which is being provided by Chiefs for Change, a nonprofit group for school-district leaders, according to the Odessa American. Families who are selected will get Internet service for free for one year, the report said.

        It's not clear whether any of the money is going to SpaceX. The school district has some costs, as it plans to "identify the families [who will get service] and facilitate delivery of the necessary equipment to those homes."

        --
        Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
    • (Score: 2) by takyon on Tuesday October 27 2020, @05:01PM (3 children)

      by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Tuesday October 27 2020, @05:01PM (#1069371) Journal

      https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2020/10/spacex-starlink-public-beta-begins-its-99-a-month-plus-500-up-front/ [arstechnica.com]

      One-time $500 for terminal/etc. + $100/month

      Expect to see data speeds vary from 50Mbps to 150Mbps and latency from 20ms to 40ms over the next several months as we enhance the Starlink system. There will also be brief periods of no connectivity at all.

      As we launch more satellites, install more ground stations, and improve our networking software, data speed, latency, and uptime will improve dramatically. For latency, we expect to achieve 16ms to 19ms by summer 2021.

      The Starlink phased-array user terminal, which is more advanced than what's in fighter jets, plus mounting tripod and Wi-Fi router, costs $499 and the monthly subscription costs $99.

      Prices and speeds are subject to change but that's a start.

      No data cap. On the privacy front, it's your job to hide your activity from your ISP if you care.

      --
      [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
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