I am not pleased with the choice to promote OneWeb specifically. That company made many bad decisions.
Like partnering to launch with Russia, which then proceeded to steal their 50 million satellite.
OneWeb still has very few satellites. So the reception will be less than ideal and limited.
Chinese invested into OneWeb, who is financially stretched and over budget, through partial ownership of Eutelsat. Btw. OneWeb were bailed out by the British government.
Anyway I hope soon other providers also become available. Starlink could be soon in Taiwan and Amazon trying to catch up with building their leo satellite constellation.
I suspect Musk has well-founded reasons to be mistrustful of legislative issues like that â51% stakeâ thing - he probably saw what happened to Uber, and besides, why the actual fuck should the government (or some local cronies) get to own a majority stake in something that they made zero contribution to? This is third-world-country nonsense, up with which any sensible businessman should not put.
âIf Iâm China, I would ask Elon Musk to control all the satellite receivers in Taiwan. If I can control him, in an emergency I can turn it off,â Herming Chiueh, Taiwanâs deputy minister of digital affairs, said. âThatâs my perspective, because we know China better than anyone else.â
And why would he do that? Starlink isnât operating in China and apparently has no plans to do so. The CCP has no leverage here. Plus heâs already demonstrated a willingness to stay above the fray in the case of Ukraine. This argument makes no sense at all, particularly since the choice is between a potentially-unreliable satellite fallback, and no fallback at all.
In any case Starlink is a direct-to-consumer service, not backhaul. Individual consumers are being prevented from buying Starlink. Without government interference, theyâd be at liberty to decide for themselves if they want to purchase something that could potentially be switched off.
My hunch is that Musk simply hasnât paid the requisite backhanders, or given lawmakers the route they need to profit personally from Starlink licensing.
Hmm. Fair point. Canât help wondering, though, if theyâd really want to throw a spanner in that particular moneymaking machine. Wonder how many party members own a Tesla?
It doesnât alter the fact that Taiwanâs position makes zero sense. Would you rather give people access to a service that might be shut down at the command of the CCP, or give them nothing at all? Apparently the answer is the latter. And besides, I donât really see how the 51%-stake aspect would alter the fact that Starlink owns the satellites (and all the backhaul infrastructure that ties them to the rest of the internet) so they can switch off whoever they like. Local ownership of Taiwanâs dealers/agents has absolutely no bearing on the management of the system as a whole.
Or is the Taiwan government demanding a 51% share in Starlink?
The organization of a satellite broadcasting business shall be a company limited by shares or a foundation.
The minimum paid-in capital and total endowment assets of a satellite broadcasting business shall be prescribed by the regulatory agency.
The total shares of a satellite broadcasting business directly held by foreign shareholders shall be less than 50 percent of the total shares issued by the said business. Satellite Broadcasting Act - Article Search/Content Search Result - Laws & Regulations Database of The Republic of China (Taiwan)
Any telecommunications joint venture to have local majority ownership of at least 51%.
During usual operation the internet will be provided by local ground stations in Taiwan.
If all sea cables are disconnected then the satellites need to use their laser links between satellites to build a chain to the nearest ground station in another country. Right now very few Starlink satellites in orbit are equipped to do that, but that will change quickly once SpaceX Spaceship is operational.
In current condition Starlink internet would most likely not work when Taiwan looses internet sea cables. Or at least be very limited in south Taiwan if user terminals can reach ground stations in the Philippines.
Then Taiwan is hoist by its own petard, innit. The legacy of the KMT as-was is hardly Elon Muskâs problem.
Didnât realise Starlink needed ground stations to be so close to user terminals. I was under the impression that they had multiple transceivers on the satellites that could be steered over a relatively wide angle.
Yes, I know - Iâm just surprised that a consumer uplink in Taiwan has to be routed to the internet through a Taiwan-based ground station. I thought the whole point was that, by one means or another, the system would bypass undersea cables. Having ground stations in Taiwan - which ultimately rely on cables between them and the rest of the world, I assume - seems like it defeats the object.
The satellites with laser links are huge/heavy and current rockets canât bring enough of them to orbit for a reasonable price. Until SpaceX Spaceship is operational, this will not change.
A couple experimental are orbiting above north pole for testing.
The context was in a time of emergency - Iâd read that as a war / major conflict between Taiwan and China. Given that, 1) Iâm not sure the CCP would give a crap about the above, and 2) theyâ might just consider seizing the plants for themselves since theyâd be sanctioned up the wazoo anyway.
What if they use their leverage to intercept data rather than a full shutdown?
A U.K.-based satellite internet provider is among companies that Taiwan may rely on to improve the security of its communication infrastructure. Thatâs after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine by Russia demonstrated the importance of satellite systems in communications and control.
Beijing-based sovereign fund China Investment Corporation (CIC) has a 7% stake in Eutelsat which is the second-biggest shareholder in OneWeb after Bharti presently.
Thereâs probably another 44% held by long, long chains of front companies receiving CCP money. The UK is bankrupt anyway, so theyâve got to get funds from somewhere.
Starlink Malaysia received Network Facilities Providers (NFP) (I) and Network Services Provider (NSP) (I) licenses on July 17, 2023, which will be valid for a decade. Under the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 (Act 588), foreign equity holding in such licenses is usually capped at 49%.
However, the Communications and Multimedia Minister has the discretion to allow 100% foreign ownership based on recommendations from the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC). Starlink had applied for and received this exemption.
Taiwanâs largest international space conference is wrapping up in Taipei, with a focus on satellite technology. Itâs part of a push by the country to become more âdigitally resilientâ and remain connected in a crisis.
Ministry of Digital Affairs (MODA) announced that by the end of 2024, it expects to complete the establishment of 700 hot spots within Taiwanâs territory that can be used for satellite communication during emergency situations like wartime.
They cooperate with UK-based satellite company OneWeb.
