This is another podcast in the series on ‘Beyond Global Waves‘. This week, we delve into the promise of Starlink, the technology that’s Bridging the Digital Divide. Starlink made headlines recently with a significant global outage on Thursday, July 24, 2025. This outage, which affected users across all continents, including America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia, even impacted services in Italy, Germany, Canada, and Ukraine, and lasted approximately 2.5 hours. The reports spiked to around 60,000 on Downdetector, underscoring the global impact of this event.
Starlink, operated by SpaceX’s subsidiary Starlink Services, LLC, is a satellite internet constellation designed to provide global mobile broadband and connect around 130 countries and territories. Its primary advantage lies in delivering high-speed internet to rural, remote, and maritime/aviation users where traditional fibre or cable infrastructure is economically unfeasible or unavailable. Unlike older geostationary satellite systems, which have high latencies (around 600 ms), Starlink offers significantly lower latency, typically ranging from 20 to 40 ms, making it suitable for activities such as video calls and gaming. The service is known for its relatively quick and user-friendly deployment, often allowing for self-installation of terminals, enabling rapid connectivity for various applications, including emergency response and travel. As of June 2025, Starlink has connected over 6 million people worldwide, demonstrating its potential to bridge the digital divide and bring transformative connectivity to underserved areas.
Despite its groundbreaking benefits, Starlink faces significant challenges. The network is susceptible to inconsistent speeds and congestion, with analysis suggesting that as few as 419 users in a 62.9-square-mile area could render service unusable, falling below typical broadband standards.
Starlink’s future reliability will depend on SpaceX’s ability to scale its constellation with more capable satellites (like the newer V2 models with increased capacity and laser cross-links, a technology that allows satellites to communicate with each other using lasers). For users and critical operations, experts emphasise the need for diversified connectivity, combining satellite service with alternative links such as fibre or cellular, to mitigate the risks of relying on a single provider.
Ultimately, Starlink should be viewed as a complementary technology that serves as a vital lifeline and a backup, rather than a complete replacement for terrestrial broadband. The ongoing discussions underscore the need for robust regulatory oversight and sustainable practices to strike a balance between technological advancement and environmental and societal responsibilities.
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