Starlink's Hurricane relief offer is not quite as free as advertised
- by ZDNet
- Oct 09, 2024
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Also: How to use your iPhone's emergency satellite features if you lose cell coverage
It's worth noting that while Starlink's offer has garnered attention, it's not the only relief satellite internet effort in place. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has been actively involved in hurricane relief, providing over $20 million in aid to survivors and deploying its own Starlink units to support emergency communications. These units, however, are for organizations, not individual users.
Earlier, Elon Musk, Starlink's CEO, had complained about FEMA preventing Starlink from flying Starlink terminals into the area. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg stepped in and explained that the emergency made normal flights impossible. The two talked and came to an agreement, and Musk said, "Thanks for expediting approval for support flights. I just wanted to note that Sec Buttigieg is on the ball."
That said, almost all Starlink customers in the disaster areas will get their terminals in a few weeks via the usual shipping services.
Other internet and telecom services are helping. Charter/Spectrum announced its nearly 45,000 Spectrum WiFi hotspots will remain open in Florida in advance of Hurricane Milton. These Wi-Fi access points were originally opened to the public on September 26, ahead of Hurricane Helene. They will remain open in communities that are expected to be impacted by Milton, including Tampa, Orlando, Bradenton, St. Petersburg, and Melbourne, Florida. Of course, it's an open question as to whether these hotspots will stay in service. In my area, they were knocked out by Hurricane Helene.
Speaking of Milton, T-Mobile and Starlink will use the Starlink service Direct to Cell satellites to provide emergency alerts for all phones and carriers of those in affected areas. In addition, T-Mobile users will be able to use basic texting by satellite. However, as SpaceX noted, "If a phone connects to a Starlink satellite, it will have 1 to 2 bars of signal and show 'T-Mobile SpaceX' in the network name. Users may have to manually retry text messages if they don't go through at first, as this is being delivered on a best-effort basis. The service works best outdoors, and occasionally works indoors near a window." This service is free.
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