Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk's Starlink, technically a division within SpaceX, has already launched over 1,300 small, low orbit satellites to deliver high-speed broadband internet to consumers, with service currently limited to the northwest US, adjacent parts of Canada, parts of the UK and other areas.
The British Government has reportedly been in talks with Elon Musk's satellite network Starlink amid ambitious plans to push forward with accelerated rural broadband deployment, writes The Telegraph.
Matt Warman, Minister for Digital Infrastructure, is believed to have met with representatives of Starlink recently as part of a £5bln “Project Gigabit” plan, seeking to utilise the emerging technology to provide far-flung areas of the UK with high speed internet access.
‘Extreme' solutions have been urged to ensure access to remote locations in Scotland and Wales, as well as English National Parks, which cannot be reached by conventional means.
Accordingly, options such as satellite broadband, high-altitude balloons and autonomous drones are being considered by ministers to enable the country's future broadband setup.
As many as 510,000 homes that have been suffering from poor broadband in areas such as Cambridgeshire, Cumbria, Dorset, Essex, Northumberland, South Tyneside, Hartlepool in Durham, as well as Stockton, Redcar and Penzance in Cornwall are all designated as ‘first-wave' target locations.
Once the tender process is complete, work is…
