Starlink outshines cable in reliable service with mostly rural footprint

SpaceX’s Starlink satellite broadband offering touts an edge in service reliability over its cable counterparts, despite most of its customers residing in rural areas. Recon Analytics found Starlink customers experience fewer service outages than cable customers, though they still face more outages than consumers on a fiber broadband connection. Unsurprisingly, the majority of Starlink customers (85%) reside in rural areas. Most customers either switched from a small rural provider or never had an internet service provider (ISP) before, with 11% of subscribers reporting they are new to home internet. Despite satellite services like Starlink skewing toward rural locations, that doesn’t mean urban-based usage is nonexistent. Ookla data from Q3 2023 recorded 16.1% of Starlink Speedtest samples in urban locations.