Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk-led SpaceX announced Wednesday a faster premium satellite Internet service.
What Happened: Starlink, which is operated by SpaceX, unveiled the Starlink Premium service, which has more than double the antenna capability of the standard option.
The premium service has the potential to deliver faster internet speeds and higher throughputs for the highest demand users, including businesses, the company said.
Starlink began taking reservation for the premium service with immediate effect, and said deliveries will start in the second quarter.
Download speeds with the new service could be as high as 150-500 Mbps and latency will be 20-40ms. With the standard Starlink, download speeds could be between 100 Mbps and 200 Mbps.
A potential user of Starlink Premium would pay a $500 deposit and set aside $2,500 for hardware that includes a dish, a WiFi router, and a tripod. There is also a recurring service charge would be $500 per month. For the standard service, the company charges $99 for a reservation, $499 for the hardware and $99 per month for the service.
Musk shared a link to the Starlink page where the announcement concerning the premium service was made.
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The Tesla CEO also shared an update on the Starlink standard option, wherein he said antenna production has risen rapidly this year and customers will not be waiting for long. He also recommended potential customers to order early, as Starlink can only support a limited number of users in an area.
Why It's Important: The Starlink standard service had over 145,000 users in 25 countries as of early January, CNBC reported, citing SpaceX engineer Jessie Anderson. The company has about 1,800 Starlink satellites in orbit, the report added.
SpaceX's valuation reportedly moved above $100 billion following a secondary share sale by the company in October. The opportunity presented by the Starlink internet service is said to be largely responsible for the optimism toward the parent company.
At last check, Tesla shares were down 2.69% at $906.18.
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Photo: Courtesy of Tim Reckmann on Flickr
