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Comment by kortilla

8 hours ago

> The datacenter thing is mostly just a meme that billionaires say because it makes them feel smart and gets them media attention, it doesn't seem to move stock significantly.

A significant portion of their valuation is based on this. The spacex private stock price moved significantly based on this data center narrative.

> And for what it concerns shareholders, a strictly worse one than a conventional ISP.

This is ignorance. There is absolutely zero meaningful competition to Starlink in the maritime, aviation, and remote internet markets. 150mbps down with <80ms latency isn’t impressive in a city but it’s mind blowing on an airplane 1000 miles from land.

> The EU is even building their own Starlink equivalent.

No they aren’t. The only somewhat credible competitor so far is Amazon Kuiper(Leo) and they are still nascent.

You also forgot starshield.

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kortilla

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SlinkyOnStairs  6 hours ago

> There is absolutely zero meaningful competition to Starlink in the maritime, aviation, and remote internet markets.

There are roughly 100,000 ships at sea. There are roughly 15,000 planes in the sky.

The remote internet markets are remote because either A) exceedingly few people live there, or B) exceedingly poor people live there. (And usually, both at the same time)

This just isn't a big market. That's why the telecom giants haven't bothered. To justify a trillion dollar valuation you're gonna need a billion users. SpaceX would be better off putting fiber into the ground in Africa.