Historically, satellites’ broadband (and satellite calls) have been delivered by a handful of satellites some 30,000km overhead in a geosynchronous orbit that matches the rotation that allows them to match the Earth’s rotation. Musk’s Starlink involves some 6000 satellites - and counting - that swarm above the planet at 340km to 640km altitude. Their proximity boosts broadband performance, and minimises lag.
Ivory says latency hasn’t been an issue. Fletcher runs high-volume Microsoft Teams calls via every Starlink location without problems. Latency is typically 20-40ms, which he deems “not really noticeable”.
“We’ve never seen any contention,” he adds. (Contention is when performance degrades as more people join a service - or use it at once - and there’s less bandwidth to go around.)
While the weather disasters of early 2023 put the need for communications resiliency and redundancy into focus, Ivory says Fletcher’s everyday Starlink usage scenarios are more meat-and-potatoes:
- Places where there’s no coverage or its cost-prohibitive roll to fibre to the site
- Manufacturing and distribution sites, where an always-on network is essential and Starlink adds to backup options
- Residential greenfields, where there’s initially no broadband or mobile facilities when subdivision works started
- Crews at the Fletcher-owned Higgins road maintenance business, who need chunky broadband but are constantly on the move
Fletcher will be aggressively expanding its Starlink use, Ivory says.
Starlink for Business offered much better performance than legacy satellite broadband. And while a lot pricier than the residential version (see below), the service was economic next to a bespoke microwave broadband or custom fibre link.
“If it costs more than $30,000 to roll out fibre for a three-year period, then Starlink [is] probably better,” Ivory says.
“The cost is a no-brainer. We could lose hundreds of thousands if we lose comms to a critical site.”
Starlink could also be shipped in in days, and setup in minutes, compared to a lengthy wait for fibre.
Beefier Starlink
Tens of thousands of Kiwis are signed up for Elon Musk’s broadband-by-satellite service and plonked Starlink dishes on their roofs over the same period. The Commerce Commission recently said it’s the fastest-growing internet service in rural New Zealand (if outside of the regulator’s clutches).
For a residential or camper or boat install, a dish costs $599, with monthly service at either $159 for unlimited data or $79 for “deprioritsed” unlimited data (Starlink doesn’t quantify speeds for either).
The gruntier Starlink Business features a larger, higher-gain dish, priced at $4567 - which can accommodate more users at once, and maintain performance through bad weather. And you do get indicative performance speeds, which equate to entry-level fibre: 40 megabits per second to 220Mbps for downloads, 8 to 25Mpbs for uploads and latency of 25 to 60 milliseconds.
Fletcher did not get any bulk discount. “It’s like buying a Tesla. The price is the price,” Ivory said.
Business plans are based around data and costs $196/month for 40 gigabytes, $426/month for 1 terabyte (1000GB), $840 for 2TB or $2507 bought direct from Starlink (for context, a Netflix-chugging fibre household that includes a couple of enthusiastic gamers and a work-from-home Zoomer could easily get close to 1TB per month). Local resellers 2degees, Spark and One NZ bundle bespoke services.
Separately, Starlink is launching a service later this year that will allow you to send a text via one of its satellites using a regular smartphone, virtually eliminating mobile blackspots. Data and voice calls will be added next year. One NZ will initially have exclusive rights in NZ, while Spark and 2degrees gear up for a similar service via putative Starlink rival Lynk.
Fletcher use Spark for its mainstay mobile and broadband in NZ, and Optus across the Tasman.
How did it wind up picking 2degrees for Starlink Business?
Simply because 2degrees was the first to sign up as an NZ reseller for the service in late February, on the heels of Gabrielle (Spark would sign on as a Starlink Business reseller in April, with One NZ joining the party in May.) It also helped that 2degrees had ties to Vocus, which handles Starlink for Fletcher across the Tasman (Vocus is the former owner of Orcon Group which merged with 2degrees in mid-2022; through the deal, 2degrees also inherited three Vocus-built and managed ground stations, which connect Starlink satellites to the terrestrial internet; Cello manages another three).
2degrees, Spark and One NZ all bundle various value-added services with Starlink Business.
Ivory’s division of Fletcher, FletcherTech, engaged 2degrees to assist with governance, and 2degrees assisted in managing deployment, maintenance, and support for the growing fleet of Starlink devices. The telco offers Starlink services including managed install, relocation, performance reports, replacement stock on-hand and 24/7 NZ support.
“2degrees showed they were serious through their own testing and use of Starlink in the Chatham Islands and in Gisborne after the hurricane. 2degrees quickly established the right financial and governance arrangements too,” Ivory said.
Chris Keall is an Auckland-based member of the Herald’s business team. He joined the Herald in 2018 and is the technology editor and a senior business writer.
