Elon Musk Touts 1M Milestone For Starlink Terminals — But Report Finds Rise In Users Has Come At A Cost

Tesla Inc TSLA CEO Elon Musk’s SpaceX-owned Starlink internet service has proved its utility in times of geopolitical tensions. As its adoption increases rapidly, a recent report found that it may be slowly losing out on the edge it has over the competition.

1M And Counting: Musk on Sunday tweeted that over a million Starlink terminals have been manufactured, less than two years after SpaceX began taking preorders for the service by taking a $99 deposit.

Starlink now over 1M user terminals manufactured

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 25, 2022

Starlink is a satellite internet constellation that provides connectivity in about 40 countries. It is active on all continents, including Antarctica.

Last month, SpaceX announced a partnership with T-Mobile US, Inc. TMUS to bring satellite connectivity to phones to avoid "mobile-dead" zones.

See also: Elon Musk's SpaceX Launches 54 More Starlink Satellites: 'Meant For Peaceful Use Only'

Slowing Speeds A Concern? A new report from speed testing site Ookla has unearthed an issue with the Starlink connection.

Download speeds fell across Canada, France, Germany, New Zealand, the U.K. and the U.S., dropping about 9-54% from the second quarter of 2021 to the second quarter of 2022, as signups for the service surged significantly.

Nevertheless, the median download speed in North America was at least 60 Mbps in the second quarter, which would allow at least one connected device to play streaming video, download games and do video chatting, the report added. The report also noted a slowdown in upload speeds but it said latency remained relatively flat.

Incidentally, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission last month canceled an $886 million funding it awarded to Starlink for expanding internet access in rural areas due to the high cost of the service and doubts over Starlink’s ability to deliver the promised speed.