Implications For Nigeria In Starlink’s First Constellation Of Direct-To-Phone Satellites That Are Now In Orbit
The Oasis Reporters
December 8, 2024
The stated truism that deepening practical education and enabling good services is dawning seriously on Nigeria that often puts into office, selfish and myopically thinking leadership in office with the breathtaking and speedy turn of technological breakthroughs to advance society that is currently ongoing.
A report by Abhimanyu Ghoshal says that Starlink’s first orbital direct-to-cell satellites that will enable texting in 2024, and voice and data by 2025 provided by SpaceX are about to kick off.
When it comes to the provision of services Nigerian governments right from Independence have often tended to be slow and lethargic thinking that the world of breakthroughs would forever wait for Nigeria.
At Independence in 1960 even until 1999, P&T (Post and Telecommunications) that later metamorphosed into Nigerian Telecommunications ( NITEL) managed to provide only about 250,000 working telephone lines out of about 500, 000, for a population of over 120 million people.
Rural areas were never considered.
It was scandalous. Therefore in the early 2000s when President Olusegun Obasanjo boldly opened the space for GSM companies to come into Nigeria, nearly everything changed.
Before anyone could say anything, Nigeria progressively have had over a 100 million phone lines till date and Nitel died a natural death because of the mindset that failed to instruct them on how to adapt and fit into the changing dynamics.
Even with over 100 million lines, government difficulties did not enable the provision of basic infrastructure like electricity.
And again, the GSM companies seemed satisfied and self smug.
Direct To phone satellites are now in orbit. And this is competition. The rural areas and difficult to access places will now get services. That is if the rates are favourable and affordable to a larger majority of the people. But at whatever cost, the affluent would have them.
Abhimanyu Ghoshal again:
SpaceX has launched 20 of its Starlink satellites up into Earth’s orbit, enabling direct-to-cellphone connectivity for subscribers anywhere on the planet. That completes the constellation’s first orbital shell, following a launch of an initial batch of six satellites for testing back in January.
The satellites were launched with a Falcon 9 rocket from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base on December 5 at 10 PM EST; they were then deployed in low Earth orbit. SpaceX founder Elon Musk noted on X that the effort will “enable unmodified cellphones to have internet connectivity in remote areas.” He added a caveat for the first orbital shell – “Bandwidth per beam is only ~10 Mb, but future constellations will be much more capable.”
That’s in line with Musk’s previous statement on the strength of Starlink’s service back in January. “While this is a great solution for locations with no cellular connectivity, it is not meaningfully competitive with existing terrestrial cellular networks,” he noted. However, the current 10-Mb bandwidth is a step up from the 7 Mb the initial test satellites managed at the start of the year.
Indeed, you’ll currently get only text service through the end of 2024; voice and data will become available sometime next year, as will support for IoT devices (such as smart home gadgets). The company hasn’t said how much its service will cost. One vaguely relevant reference to consider is Starlink’s roaming broadband service, which works with a receiver mounted on your car or RV: that costs US$50 per month for subscribers in the US with a 50-GB cap.
How it works.
The big deal with this new venture is that unlike previous attempts at providing satellite-to-phone service, you don’t need a special handset or even a specific app to get access anywhere in the world.
Starlink uses standard LTE/4G protocols that most phones are compatible with, partners with mobile operators like T-Mobile in the US and Rogers in Canada, and has devised a system to make its service work seamlessly with your phone when it’s connecting to satellites 340 miles (540 km) above the Earth’s surface.
Unlike previous satellite phone services, you won’t need a special handset or app to use Starlink’s direct-to-cell techSpaceX
The SpaceX division noted it’s also worked out latency constraints, ideal altitudes and elevation angles for its satellites, along with several other parameters, to achieve reliable connectivity.
Each satellite has an LTE modem on board, and these satellites plug into the massive constellation of 6,799 existing Starlink spacecraft, according to Space.com.
Connecting to that larger constellation happens via laser backhaul, where laser-based optical communication systems transmit data between satellites. This method leverages the advantages of lasers over traditional radio frequency communications, enabling data rates up to 100 times faster, increased bandwidth, and improved security.
Things can only get better because of breakthroughs in science and technology.
Abhimanyu Ghoshal with additional reporting from Greg Abolo
