As if we didn’t talk about him enough: Elon Musk is also coming to Mayotte. On the island recently swept by a powerful cyclone, the American satellite Internet access service Starlink, created by the new strongman of the future Trump administration, is being deployed. An emergency choice by Prime Minister François Bayrou in this overseas department, given the extent of the damage to local infrastructure. Not without controversy. Both for questions of digital sovereignty. But also respect towards the historical players in the sector, who take a dim view of this advertising for one of their competitors. “Not a word for the operators and especially their employees on site who ensure the restoration of the networks,” Laurentino Lavezzi, Orange’s director of public affairs, publicly expressed emotion on X.
Is Starlink getting his foot in the door? We cannot deny its advantages: in the event of a natural disaster, or war, as in Ukraine. More than 6,000 of the company’s satellites already crisscross the globe; no one is doing better, especially not Europe, which is lagging behind in this area. Deployment, via a simple antenna, is simple and quick. Bonus: in Mayotte, Politico affirms that the State will benefit from 3 months of free subscription. In times of lean budget…
But zooming out a little, Starlink is still far from taking market share from large operators, including Orange. France still has good antidotes. Its mobile coverage, on the one hand. The “white zones”, without network, only account for around 2% of the territory (and not the most populated zones…). Then, its optical fiber. Around 90% of the population is now eligible. With very high speeds, sometimes reaching 1Gb/s, even higher than what the low-orbit satellite offers. All, finally, at competitive prices, among the most affordable in Europe, according to the French Telecoms Federation. Much more than those of the satellite, whose cost of the antenna, around 350 euros at Starlink, remains prohibitive. In 2023, the number of subscribers to the American access provider in France will be counted in only tens of thousands.
So, the technology promoted by Elon Musk will impose itself in territories where fiber cannot go, where mobile networks will perhaps never be deployed either. Sometimes, where the fiber projects are behind schedule: this is the case in Mayotte. Concretely: in a minority of situations, niches. The real question is whether it will last. The company is also testing direct connection technology between its satellites and mobiles (direct to sell). Enough to do without antennas, and to be able to broadcast its services more widely to all. A bit like a lambda operator. If there is a commercial threat for the “historians” of the sector, it is surely here.