Starlink fever continues as Spark starts business trial

Elon Musk's Starlink division has more than 4000 satellites in low Earth orbit, providing broadband from above and, soon, satellite-to-mobile services. Photo / Getty Images

Suddenly, everyone wants to be mates with Elon.

NZ telcos’ sudden enthusiasm for Musk’s satellite broadband service continues, with Spark revealing customer trials are under way for Starlink’s business-grade service.

Earlier, 2degrees announced it was becoming an NZ reseller for Starlink Business. It was closely followed by One NZ (formerly Vodafone NZ).

Spark will deliver Starlink Business in a partnership with ASX-listed Netlinkz, which already has a relationship with Musk’s company across the Tasman.

The telco says it will expand from trial to commercial launch this year.

Spark has yet to give pricing. Buying Starlink Business directly from Musk’s firm costs $4200 for a dish, which is larger and higher-gain than the home version of Starlink - for faster performance normally, and during extreme weather - plus $175 shipping. There are three plans, running from $426 (1 terabyte of data) to $840/month (2TB) to 6TB ($2507). Starlink promises speeds of up to 350Mbps and says Starlink Business can be used for business with “20-plus” staff.

It’s likely the telco will bundle Starlink Business with extra services. One NZ has partnered with US security firm Palo Alto Networks, which numbers Sir John Key among its directors, for its Starlink Business offering.

Spark also said it was preparing a satellite-to-mobile service trial with an un-named party, with more details promised shortly.

On April 1, One NZ revealed a tie-up with Starlink that would give its customers “100 per cent mobile coverage” from late next year, by dint of being able to send or receive a text from via satellite when out of mobile network range. Musk calls the feature “a celltower in the Sky”.

The same day, 2degrees announced a satellite-to-mobile trial with Lynk, a US firm that only has a couple of satellites in orbit now but plans a swarm of 5000 to compete with Musk’s company. Christchurch-based Dawn Aerospace recently inked a deal to supply Lynk with satellite propulsion systems.

Meanwhile, Apple has just extended its Emergency SOS via satellite service to iPhone 14 users in NZ.