TECHNOLOGY UPDATE STARLINK’S IMPACT ON MARITIME CONNECTIVITY: ENHANCEMENTS, GEO-FENCING AND FUTURE PROSPECTS Written by Hamish Goddard Pictures by Starlink
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he Palma docks are relatively quiet, and most vessels are out for what we all hope is a good and busy season, reflected in the fact that, with the 2023 season under their belts and the Starlink system proven as a game-changer, usage has been higher this year as vessels install the service and appreciate its groundbreaking (an unusual adjective for a satellite system...) capabilities. There seems to be little let-up in requirements for new systems and whilst many vessels have Starlink installed – in some form – already, there are many that don’t! What now for RV/ROAM? As ever, Starlink continues to develop their offering and in line with these developments, are now showing signs of tightening up various aspects of the service. Those days of unlimited access on an RV/ROAM antenna in the middle of the Atlantic look firmly to be over.. It’s difficult to tell if this original laissez faire approach was intentional or not, although it was extremely successful in developing huge interest in the system across our sector. The continuing developments are primarily to ensure that the correct systems are used for the purposes intended, i.e. Starlink Maritime for maritime users, rather than ocean-going RVs and in some cases, even Residential systems.. All Starlink systems - whether RV/ROAM, maritime or residential - provide superfast speeds and low costs compared to older VSAT services. Starlink are understandably keen to make sure each user enjoys optimum performance and
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Industry Insider
user-experience. What is of growing importance to them is ensuring that their network is being utilised correctly. GEO fencing With this in mind, we are seeing that Starlink have started to prune their network to also ensure that usage is available in specifically-authorised areas – a rapidly developing dynamic that has the potential to cause some issues in certain-well-cruised areas, taking the Turkish coast as an example during Med-summer 2024. The geo-fencing capability of the LEO network allows Starlink to continue to refine very clear boundaries on where the service can (and cannot…) be used. In authorized regions, these boundaries have been set cell-by-cell, with each cell a hexagon-shape approximately 20km across - and in the context of ‘land cell coverage whilst at sea’, broadly following an authorized area’s coastline. Up until July, a cell covering the sea but also touching just 1% of the land would be classed as a land cell, thus extending land coverage to around 20km out to sea (and in some cases further). This distance from land was not exact, as it depended on where the cell touched the land and in some cases, the distance might actually be less than 20km offshore. Priority data and mobile data – understanding the difference This was an important feature for early Starlink adopters, because it meant that users of the RV/ROAM service could
The Islander #321