A reminder that broadband-from-space isn't about bridging the global digital divide or serving poor people. It's just another for-profit enterprise that seeks to exploit a public commons for private gain.
"#Starlink has refused to comply with the country’s BEE (Black Economic Empowerment) – 30 per cent ownership to local historically disadvantaged people."
https://technext24.com/2025/01/28/starlink-south-africa-waive-bee-policy/
[#]Space #SouthAfrica
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The company also associates with some very choice individuals.
Like sanctioned Russian oligarchs.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-01-29/russian-oligarch-held-stake-in-spacex-via-trust-while-sanctioned
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@JohnBarentine I haven't kept up to date on Polish telecom law, but if certain laws didn't change I do wonder how they keep on legal side in Poland as well. TL;DR it used to be that operators whose networks spanned more than one county had to register "war and disaster time" cooperation plans
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@JohnBarentine Musk is a spoiled white child of Apartheid and resource extraction. My surprised face is broken.
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@YakyuNightOwl @JohnBarentine yeah, the family moved here for the apartheid. if you want to get a bit more upset look up technocracy and musks grandfather
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@mensrea @JohnBarentine Couldn't imagine why this son of Apartheid would want to appeal to Germans. /s
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shark_Island_concentration_camp
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@YakyuNightOwl @mensrea The historical parallels are very concerning...
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@JohnBarentine if you can't follow the law, when it only costs a little, you can't be trusted to follow the law ever.
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@Darkphoenix Well stated.
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@JohnBarentine Broadband from space can be about bridging the digital divide. See services like "Sky Muster" run as part of Australia's National Broadband Network. https://www.nbnco.com.au/learn/network-technology/sky-muster-explained
However, with country-specific solutions, it typically involves satellites at geostationary orbits (0.25 light seconds away).
[#]space
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@portablejim "Can be" — absolutely. And I want to be clear that I am in no way opposed to the world gaining access to the Internet this way.
But is it "likely to be"? I doubt it. At least not as long as there is profit motive behind it.
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@JohnBarentine
Does #SouthAfrica have similar requirements to the US for citizens living abroad to fill in #TaxReturns at home? 🤔
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@Quantillion That's a great question.
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@JohnBarentine It's better than the Hunger Games current telcos are playing where:
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@ShrikeTron I agree in that none of this should let terrestrial telecoms off the hook. And their regulators need to do a much better job.
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@JohnBarentine it also supports a fascist and isn't a technically viable alternative for broad use
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@mensrea I think at least the economics of broadband from space don't make sense in large cities, where terrestrial options like 5G or fiber will yield much higher network speeds. So instead we're talking about people in more rural areas. The market isn't there to sustain a project I recall reading was projected to cost USD 10 billion over its lifetime. So instead, the company will make its money selling broadband to enterprises and militaries -- not poor people.
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@JohnBarentine yeah, there's no-one here that needs it that would be able to afford it
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@JohnBarentine "international investment" that seeks to economically exclude the locals is just neocolonial plunder
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@elexia It certainly does sound like colonization by any other name. And colonizers usually do their colonizing for reasons they say are meant to help the people they colonize.
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