Submitted by Sorin61 t3_z08stn in technology
WhatUp007 t1_ix4azcj wrote
Reply to comment by Lootcifer- in European Union strikes €6bn deal to develop own broadband satellite network by Sorin61
It just goes to show how short sighted musk is. Providing Ukraine with starlink could've lead to billions from the EU in contacts later.
Daedelous2k t1_ix4gtb6 wrote
I don't think they'd have gone for it. To be beholden to US tech again...
afterburners_engaged t1_ix4dxcn wrote
He never stopped?
throwaway836282672 t1_ix4oj1z wrote
Cadsvax t1_ix5adkp wrote
Can anyone explain what was the deal here? These were 1300 units purchased from Britian and Ukraine even went to them to try and foot the bill for these, so was Ukraine paying to the UK who was paying to keep the service for those units? Why only these units went offline?
throwaway836282672 t1_ix5ddwg wrote
I don't know - so please, please take this with a massive grain of salt. My guess: export restrictions and/or supply.
You cannot support a foreign military without approval from a lot oversight. Starlink likely already had access to export to the Kingdom, so that's who was billable.
In regards to the supply aspect, the guarantee of military operation means only binned units are supplied. They likely didn't have additional binned units, so the UK provided their units.
>Why only these units went offline?
The war isn't in the news as frequently in the USA. So SpaceX wasn't receiving the advertising as desired. So they defaulted the account. There would be substantial negative press if they terminated service for civilians, so they didn't.
Uzza2 t1_ix5s0p3 wrote
There are many organizations that have supplied/donated Starlink terminals to Ukraine. Some are paying for the monthly costs while others, like the one you're referencing, can't afford to do that and are requiring that someone else foots the bill until Ukraine can pay it back.
This batch of terminals in question were to be continued to be funded by the UK government, but they decided that there were more important places to allocate the funding for Ukraine than paying for the terminals, so the subscription for them lapsed, and the terminals was removed from the frontlines in anticipation of it.
All other subscriptions being funded by other organizations, or the ones that SpaceX are providing free of charge, are still operational.
Cadsvax t1_ix5sszf wrote
So why is SpaceX getting dragged through the mud for a UK company/government basically saying 'nah fuck that we aint paying anymore'?
I get hating Musk is very popular (and deserved nowadays) but its perplexing how quickly SpaceX is made out to be the bad guy here when thousands other units are still functional.
FreshNoobAcc t1_ix6ji9v wrote
Hating Musk is popular is the nutshell
It becomes very emotional for people and they can’t see beyond the emotion to take time to consider the facts of the situation. We are fallible humans with biases and when a big rich man (who despite bringing EVs to the masses, something the establishment and big oil has pushed down for decades, and something the left minded folk have wanted since childhood) starts taking sides on politics when half of the population is strongly one side and half the population is strongly the other side, the side he voices opinion against trashes everything he is involved in and ignores the benefit that has been provided and clearly documented
FreshNoobAcc t1_ix6k7sx wrote
He should’ve avoided choosing sides in politics publicly. He was asked by ukraine to provide starlink so he probably thought that was a good idea, but underestimated that the terminals get destroyed in combat regularly and need replacing, then all of a sudden an unrelated American man/ company is footing a large bill for a war he has no relation to, didn’t start and has no say in (and rightly so, but after providing much needed internet he was told to fuck off by a govt official. Do you continue to provide services to people who tell you to fuck off? And he still is, just not free, understandably. What if the war drags on for 30 years (not impossible), is he to provide ongoing terminals for 30 years free?)
Airf0rce t1_ix5ah1x wrote
If last couple of years have shown anything, it's that basic utilities (which internet is at this point) should've never been privatized to begin with. So this isn't really about Musk, but about the entire private sector.
6 billion might sound like a lot of money, but this is money & know how that will largely stay Europe, with EU maintaining control over it, instead of relying at whatever bait & switch scheme Musk and the likes come up with.
Not to mention stuff like this also has military/defense purpose, and leaving that in someone else's hands is a bad idea if you want to rely on it.
DryYogurtcloset492 t1_ix7z4ud wrote
Things become “basic utilities” when the government declares it so. This is when they arbitrarily decide it’s more beneficial for them to get involved. Privatization means competition which means higher quality service at lower price.
Government deals like this one will very likely be carried out by private contracting deals (as most “public utility” services are). All they’re doing is blocking out competition for the service by nestling up to government and letting the government rather than its own citizens decide what’s best for them.
Real-Patriotism t1_ixa4vjh wrote
Ah yes. Because private healthcare is going so swell for us right now, and is totally not greedy businessmen leeching off us citizens as much as human possible as they mark up insulin 1000%.
Municipal Internet is a wonderful counterexample to this 'tread harder daddy' ultra-capitalist bootlicking.
DryYogurtcloset492 t1_ixcbr6p wrote
We are far from truly privatized healthcare. It’s not expensive because we have privatization but the opposite. The creation of Medicare increased healthcare costs 60% right off the bat when implemented.
Regulations mean it takes on average 10 years and $1b to bring a new drug to market.
All of the backdoor regulations with patents and inflated prices due to insurance issues are also to blame.
The irony of much of peoples criticism with capitalism is that it’s not free market capitalism to begin with. If we look at the vast majority of the issues people have with our current systems, we find that they’re almost exclusively socialized programs.
In a free market system, greed benefits society. If I want to get rich, I have to create something that benefits a lot of people and convince them to voluntarily give me their money in exchange for this benefit.
In a socialized system, I create laws that force them to give me their money whether they like my offering or not.
Real-Patriotism t1_ixdfhrw wrote
What absolute tripe. I was a Libertarian once too. The real world set me straight.
The regulations you speak of - are to ensure the drug is safe and doesn't kill people or have insane side effects. This is to prevent companies from cutting corners that kill people and do harm. This is a good thing.
Even with all the regulations and cost additions, [Pharmaceuticals still sell their drugs for 500%+ markups.](https://www.pharmaceutical-technology.com/pricing-and-market-access/precise-magnitude-hospital-markups-us/#:~:text=The%20data%20analysis%20indicates%20that,to%20633.6%25%20(leuprolide).
Why? Because they can.
Because sick people cannot shop for market competitive rates, because cancer patients cannot be expected to haggle with their doctors while they're dying.
This is common sense shit. You remove the single guardrail consumers have to protect their interests, their choice, and all you have left is increasingly unfettered greed.
#There are some things that we as a Civilized People should not seek to subject to the profit motive. Human Suffering is among them.
In a free market system, avarice is unleashed and is increasingly what is ailing our society as everything is commoditized as we worship the one true God, the American Dollar.
All instead of helping, protecting, and uplifting the American People. You know, all the things that secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.
quettil t1_ix73v50 wrote
> Providing Ukraine with starlink could've lead to billions from the EU in contacts later.
He did provide Ukraine with Starlink.
OccasinalMovieGuy t1_ix7iywk wrote
EU hardly spends any money. Even now most of the support to Ukraine is from American government.
Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments