In early May of 2019; Elon Musk and his now world famous Space X made internet headlines again by successfully launching the beginning of the Starlink satellite network. His quest to give the world fast reliable internet has been steadily moving forward. Now going into the end of 2020, the world has seen just over 900 of these satellites launched. At just around 20% of its network total, It's a far cry from the end goal of over 4000. But it is enough of the network needed to start beta testing in the lower parts of Canada and the northern regions of the United States of America. The goal behind this is to create a global network of satellites giving the entire planet access to broadband internet. The most remote and difficult to reach places in the past have never had access to fast internet or in some cases the internet at all. This will help less fortunate countries gain information that would have been out of reach in the past.
Now, to be honest I was taken back a bit by the start up cost. The initial cost for start up is a whopping $499. The will include the Starlink dish and router needed to get connected. After that there is a monthly charge of $99. So for the first year of service you are looking at $1,587! Ok, are you done freaking out yet? Good, because it gets better and you will change your mindset after this.
Did you know that according to JD Power, the average American spends roughly $70 a month on their cellular phone plan? And, the average American spends around $60 a month on their internet services. If you combine those 2 bills it amounts to $130 monthly, or $1,560 a year. So it is a little cheaper to maintain your current service providers when compared to a years worth of service and the Starlink startup.
Even without considering anything else, I believe that if I could get reliable and most importantly fast internet; I would be more than happy to pay a slightly higher rate annually than continue to suffer through long buffer periods and lag times.
With global broadband you would not necessarily need a cell phone provider in the future. Hopefully as the technology matures and improves, it would only be a matter of time before Starlink will be made for mobile access. Once that occurs, you will be able to make calls over wifi anyplace and anytime you desire. With a simple google search, you can find a large number of free internet based phone providers. I prefer Google Voice personally. That would drastically cut down your monthly cost; If you were to eliminate your cellular provider completely you could save $720 a year minus what the cost of a phone would be.
Now this is all speculative, and it may never happen; but this father can hope!