Re: FCC Chair Rosenworcel Proposes to Investigate Impact of Data Caps

[Mark Tinka <mark@tinka.africa>]

On 6/16/23 22:36, Josh Luthman wrote:

> Not everyone can afford $1000 to start up Starlink and then pay $130+ 
> per month.  That may be an option for some, but certainly not the 
> majority.

Partly why I don't pay any attention to Starlink. It's a niche product 
for folk who either have the ability to live off-grid, or be in a 
position to have someone else wealthier cover the cost for them. That 
won't be the majority.

In Africa, most people will connect to the Internet via mobile. Even 
with mobile coverage being relatively poor in the deepest part of the 
village, penetration via mobile is far more likely than Starlink, et al.


> If 100% of a town was covered by a single company with data caps, 
> those that are crying from hitting 1.2 TB/month will not be enough for 
> a competitor to come in and build on top.  A TB/mo now is extremely 
> high - In May 2023 we had 4 customers that exceeded that (all 4 of 
> these customers mentioned are subscribed to <25 mbps plans; we offer 
> gig ftth).

The traditional business case is volume-based, i.e., as many customers 
as possible. If that is not the model for the competitor, they can be 
enough of a disruptor if something else drives them. Think what Jared 
has done in the bundus of Michigan.

Mark.