[Axien]

They are not a monopoly. Anyone can do the same. I believe two other companies are also launching Internet satellite services.

[pnpnp]

They are launching, but right now Starlink is a monopoly.

There’s no other constellation in orbit that comes close in latency or bandwidth capabilities.

Hopefully the upcoming constellations are successful and there’s more competition in this space. It really is world-changing stuff.

OT, but it’s possible the current price hikes aren’t due to full cells, but ground stations at capacity. I’ve seen upgraded and additional ground stations referenced. They serve very large geographic areas compared to a single “cell.”

[oceanplexian]

The word monopoly doesn’t mean “Only one company makes the best product”. It means that a company completely corners a market and uses its position to prevent others from competing.

There are plenty of space launch providers. There are plenty of other constellations (OneWeb, Iridium, etc). In fact, ironically, SpaceX is doing the opposite of what a monopoly would do and selling the competition cheap tickets on their own launch vehicles. It would be the equivalent of Apple letting Samsung sell phones in an Apple Store.

[pnpnp]

But AFAIK, those other constellations still aren’t targeting consumers(?)

I should have clarified, but from a consumer standpoint, I think there’s still only one real choice at the moment.

[throwawaylkajl]

cool well go do it then.