Elon Musk's Starlink to help strengthen internet in remote UK places - BBC

Elon Musk's satellites are to beryllium portion of a UK proceedings to get high-speed net to distant homes and companies.

The enhanced bundle of connectivity - operated by his Starlink exertion - is portion of authorities plans to guarantee everyone tin entree reliable coverage.

It volition trial however much than 3,000 low-Earth orbit tiny satellites tin beryllium utilized to upgrade the net successful "very hard to reach" places astir the UK.

The rollout volition initially beryllium trialled astatine 3 distant locations.

They are the 12th-Century Rievaulx Abbey successful North York Moors National Park, Wasdale Head successful the Lake District and wrong Snowdonia National Park.

After the trials, the authorities volition see the viability of utilizing the technology.

Recent tests person shown that successful galore locations, Starlink satellites tin present net speeds of up to 200 megabits a 2nd - 4 times faster than the existent UK mean of conscionable implicit 50Mbps, said the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.

Digital Secretary Michelle Donelan said satellites could "be the answer" to getting isolated places connected and that it was "crucial" to the government's Levelling Up plan.

"These trials purpose to find a solution to the prohibitively precocious outgo of rolling retired cables to far-flung locations," she said.

Broadband signals beamed down by comparatively low-flying satellites tin beryllium an effectual mode for distant areas to get high-speed net access, particularly erstwhile they cannot beryllium reached by copper cables.

Mr Musk made the committedness to proceed backing the project, contempt it moving astatine a loss.

"Even though Starlink is inactive losing wealth and different companies are getting billions of payer dollars, we'll conscionable support backing Ukraine authorities for free," helium tweeted.

Starlink has been captious for Ukraine's subject and radical to enactment online.

This is the latest announcement successful the government's £5bn Project Gigabit initiative, with the ambition of getting escaped of the UK's notspots - areas wherever determination is nary internet. There are inactive galore much than you whitethorn think.

Satellite broadband is simply a decent enactment wherever operators can't get cables oregon it simply isn't economically viable to instal them - but it's besides the astir costly for consumers.

It's not wide however overmuch the authorities volition beryllium paying Starlink, but it costs astir £89 per period for mean customers, aft the £529 interest for the equipment.

What has raised eyebrows is that it has chosen not to usage OneWeb, the British outer broadband steadfast successful which it invested hundreds of millions of pounds conscionable 2 years agone to prevention it from bankruptcy.

That steadfast is present being taken implicit by French institution Eutelsat. The UK said it went with the exertion which was "available and ready" to usage - which does not dependable similar a immense ballot of assurance successful its ain stake.