Elon Musk’s Starlink is coming to a country with one of the world’s worst internet connections
Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite system is poised to change the internet landscape in a country considered to have one of the worst internet connections in the world.
The Philippines may be home to millions of social media-savvy people, but the quality of internet services in the country has remained dismal over the years. As noted in a VICE report, the Philippines boasts some of the slowest internet speeds across the globe, ranking 100th globally.
The Southeast Asian country is also notorious for having the most expensive internet services, with a 2020 Digital Quality of Life Index ranking the Philippines as 82nd in terms of internet affordability out of 85 countries. The country’s dismal internet quality is due to several factors, one of which involves an ISP duopoly that locals consider equally inadequate and expensive.
That is, at least, until Starlink comes to the country. In a recent statement, Converge Information and Communications Technology Solutions Inc, one of the smaller internet service providers that have emerged in recent years as an alternative to the country’s two leading ISPs, announced that it had conducted several talks with SpaceX to bring Starlink to the Philippines.
Speaking with local news agency ANC, Converge co-founder and CEO Dennis Anthony Uy remarked that his company is already in communication with SpaceX. When asked if a deal is indeed progressing, Uy noted that “It’s on.” “We continue to look for new technologies to bring high-speed internet service to Filipinos, which is including SpaceX,” the CEO said.
While a relatively small country in the Southeast Asian region, the Philippines could be a good testbed for Elon Musk’s vision of a global satellite internet system. The Philippines, after all, comprises over 7,000 islands, some of which remain extremely remote until today. One of these places, a small village called Palauan, actually became the recipient of a Tesla Powerpack installation, which ended up providing residents with stable renewable energy.
SpaceX’s Starlink is only in its beta phase, and its 1,000 satellites in orbit are just a fraction of the system’s intended size. Despite this, Starlink users have already shared some positive experiences with the satellite-based system, with some noting that they are already experiencing download speeds of up to 400 Mbps after a recent update.
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Elon Musk’s Starlink is coming to a country with one of the world’s worst internet connections
Culprit behind destroyed Tesla Supercharger leaves apparent evidence behind
Tesla Superchargers are becoming more and more prevalent as the rapid-charging system is expanded across the United States. Being more ubiquitous by the day, it is then unsurprising to see Superchargers getting involved in some very unique incidents, one of which was recently shared online.
YouTube group Wham Baam Teslacam, which aggregates notable Tesla dashcam footage submitted by electric car owners worldwide, recently posted a rather unique photo of the Supercharger stall in Maryland. The image, which was shared by EV community member Nicholas Bradford, featured a Supercharger that was smashed and partially toppled over. The stall’s lower part was so damaged that its internals were scattered about.
Credit: Nicholas Bradford via Wham Baam Teslacam/YouTube
Credit: Nicholas Bradford via Wham Baam Teslacam/YouTube
Based on the state of the Supercharger when it was photographed, it appears that the rapid charging station was involved in a collision. While it may be easy to assume that the incident likely involved a Tesla owner with some really bad parking skills, a look at the parts strewn about in the area suggests that something more interesting happened.
Included among the destroyed Supercharger parts was something that most certainly did not belong in the picture. Amidst the broken wires and other Supercharger components lay silver Honda emblem, clear as day. With this in mind, one could infer that the smashed Supercharger may have been due to a Honda instead–one that likely crashed into the rapid charging stall with enough force to tear its emblem off.
Tesla Supercharger stalls do not have their own security cameras, though many of them are located in areas that have CCTVs. Hopefully, the Maryland Supercharger where the apparent Honda collision happened was being observed by some cameras, and Tesla could get to the bottom of the rather unusual incident. Otherwise, it may be a good idea for Elon Musk and company to start looking into including security cameras for every Supercharger station.
Maybe a Supercharger Sentry Mode is in order? That would not be a bad idea at all.
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