By YOURI KEMP
Tribune Business Reporter
ykemp@tribunemedia.net
Family Island companies yesterday voiced optimism that Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite Internet service will “raise the bar” by giving them access to more reliable and affordable communications that are essential to their competitiveness.
Chris Cates, principal of the Eleuthera-based Lumber Shed, told Tribune Business that it is a “struggle” to obtain reliable Internet and mobile services and a “third competitor would certainly raise the bar" compared to incumbents Cable Bahamas, Aliv and the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC).
Ramon Darville, Darville Lumber’s general manager in Exuma, added: “No matter where you go for telecommunications on this island, it’s a constant struggle. I know about Elon Musk and Starlink, and I know of a few people on the island that have the Internet. I can tell you it’s pricey, but they have ways of setting it up where people can share it. I’ve never been on it, but from what I have heard, Starlink is worth every penny and I welcome it. I think it is the way of the future.”
Darin Bethel, president of the North Andros Chamber of Commerce, said permitting Starlink to operate in The Bahamas is “good to see” because “BTC and Aliv’s performance has been inconsistent over time".
He added: “The country made a sacrifice in letting go of BTC, and the rewards of that sacrifice is to create a market where the cell phone companies will compete, so what is happening now is that is coming to fruition.”
Mr Bethel said the “world is going digital now" and moving further away from wired services, with Starlink’s expansion just one example of that. He added: “I see nothing wrong with Starlink coming. This is not a problem. As said, we have already made the decision to go down this road when we sold BTC. Let’s just hope the service gets better.”
The Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority, on February 15, 2023, granted a class operating licence and class spectrum licence to Starlink Services Bahamas, which was represented by the Lennox Paton law firm. Starlink is an affiliate of Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which is not only seeking to offer satellite Internet services but also mobile services.
Starlink and SpaceX are backed by the considerable financial resources of Mr Musk, the Tesla/Twitter magnate and entrepreneur, who has been ranked by both Forbes and Bloomberg's Billionaires Index as the world's second richest man with an estimated net worth between $167bn and $176.2bn. Starlink's Internet and, potentially, mobile satellite services would also appear to have a market in the Family Islands where Cable Bahamas and BTC's networks do not extend.
Starlink's arrival has already sparked Cable Bahamas to accelerate the roll-out of its fibre-to-the-home network infrastructure in response to the competitive "threat" posed by Mr Musk's firm. Franklyn Butler, the BISX-listed communications provider's chief executive, said: "We see a threat from Starlink, which was licensed by URCA a couple of months ago.
"We have to improve our service, be alert to what is happening around the sector from a telecommunications perspective, and listen to our customers and meet their needs. We are in a digital transformation that started before the pandemic, and gathered speed through the pandemic, and we have to recognise that customers are serious about having their needs met."
Cable Bahamas, in its feedback to URCA's proposed 2023 annual plan, said then that "the new and fast developing satellite to mobile industry, which is being pushed globally by new commercialised satellite companies, cannot be ignored".
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