The mobile industry lacked the innovations – now Elon Musk is coming from the outside.
(Photo: dpa)
San Francisco Dead spots have been a contentious issue in mobile communications for years – and a nuisance for all users. Network operators are reluctant to pay the costs of closing the holes. There have already been a number of initiatives to solve the problems. So far all have failed.
Now Elon Musk has a simple and ingenious solution with his Starlink satellite internet. Thanks to reinforced antennas, the network from space should soon be so strong that it can be used with any normal mobile phone.
A solution suddenly becomes realistic. The new technology will initially be rolled out together with the Telekom subsidiary T-Mobile in the USA. But Musk is already looking for partnerships around the world.
It’s about more than just getting rid of annoying dead spots. Regions without cell phone coverage are a security risk. People in need cannot call for help.
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In Germany there are only a few of these completely remote regions. In larger parts of Africa and Asia, the Starlink network could make a reliable mobile network possible for the first time ever.
A billion-dollar industry makes a fool of itself in front of Musk
Musk parades the global mobile industry with his approach. The industry has been generating billions in sales for decades. However, it has hardly succeeded in producing sustainable innovations that go beyond the stationary mobile network. Yes, with new network generations such as 3G, 4G or now 5G, the network has become faster and more powerful. However, revolutionary approaches were not implemented.
“Despite the enormous sales generated by the mobile communications industry, there is a lack of real innovative power.”
At best, there have been half-hearted attempts in the industry to participate in the concepts of other companies. This applies, for example, to the cooperation between Telefónica and Vodafone with the Google Loon project to bring internet to remote regions with helium balloons.
Despite the enormous sales generated by the mobile communications industry, there is a real lack of innovative power. It is not for nothing that network operators are derided by digital companies as “dumb pipes” because, with a few exceptions, they were not part of the great added value of Internet services.
Up until now, this has mainly applied to the many applications on the Internet, with which companies such as Google, Amazon or Microsoft have become rich, without network operators benefiting greatly. Now companies like Startlink and, in the future, possibly also Amazon’s Kuiper, seem to be demonstrating to network operators how modern and innovative networks can be set up and operated.
Network operators around the world should urgently seek a partnership with Starlink – and in the future push for their own innovations that go beyond the mere modernization of their networks.
More: “Every smartphone can receive reception anywhere in the world”: Elon Musk promises satellite Internet for everyone