Starlink services are now available in Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands
BY OYAOL NGRAIRIKL Journal Staff
Starlink is now available in Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands.
The cost of the equipment, which includes a satellite dish that’s roughly the size of a slim laptop, a router, cables, and a base, is $600. Guam residents can also avail of a refurbished kit for $360. The monthly service for Guam is $70 and $65 for the NMI. Service to the region, according to Starlink’s Instagram page, became available in late 2024.
BettisMelissa F. Bettis, acting special assistant for the Office of Infrastructure, Policy, and Development of the Government of Guam, said there’s a growing interest in Starlink on Guam.
Much of it started in the months following Typhoon Mawar. The powerful typhoon tore at the island’s telecoms infrastructure as well as the island’s power grid. For months, some residents and businesses saw either no service, slow service, or service with interruptions. Many of those interruptions were said to have been caused by power outages somewhere along the line of the providers’ network affecting users’ homes or businesses.
Bettis said her office will be meeting with Starlink representatives in early February to discuss potential projects.
The Office of Infrastructure, Policy, and Development has updated its progress and has gone before the 37th Guam Legislature to discuss the Broadband, Equity, Access and Deployment, or BEAD, initiative, which aims to make internet services more affordable, if not free, to all. The office is also tasked to work on digital equity, which refers to the fair and equal access to digital technologies, such as the internet, computers, and other devices, as well as the skills and knowledge to use these technologies effectively.
To that end, the Office of Infrastructure, Policy, and Development has been holding townhall meetings throughout the island to talk to residents about “where the barriers are for access to the internet.”
Bettis said, “We’ve met with mayors as well, and they’ve all reported they have pockets in their villages that don’t have internet connectivity.”
At its Jan. 30 meeting in Inalahan, she said a resident was looking at Starlink and asking questions about it because he said needs reliable and fast internet at home. When he first built the house about 10 years ago, he was told the cost to get service to his home would be in the thousands. Technology has improved and he’s able to get some service but it still has high latency times, he said.
Carlo Carino, administrator for Guam’s Broadband, Equity, Access and Deployment, speaks to residents of Inalahan on Jan. 31 about internet accessibility and challenges they face. Photo courtesy of the Government of Guam’s Office of Broadband, Equity, Access and Deployment. It’s those areas that are underserved or that are still out of reach of local telecom services that might benefit from Starlink, Bettis said. She said in terms of the office’s programs and federal guidelines, fiber optic cables to the homes are preferred.
“But perhaps this is an option, even if just for the short-term until we can get fiber lines running to homes in areas that aren’t serviced now,” she said. Starlink could serve as that immediate option and also as a redundancy option so if there is another storm that affects the telecoms infrastructure again, satellite-based internet access would provide redundancy and resiliency., she said.
Online platforms such as Reddit have multiple conversations surrounding Starlink.
Comments indicate that people that have brought Starlink dishes to Guam work well and that its latency is low. One person said the Starlink system “offers better speeds than the local companies can, but the performance it offers for gaming is not good compared to cable.”
Issues noted were the price of Starlink service, and mounting of Starlink dishes, which in one case caused a switch to a local provider.
The satellite-based internet service provider bills itself as being able to provide “high-speed internet available almost anywhere on earth.”
A screenshot of a Starlink video shows how traditional satellite internet works. According to the Starlink website, the company “uses the world’s most advanced satellite technology to deliver high-speed, low-latency internet all over the world.”
“Traditional satellite internet services rely on single geo-stationary satellites that orbit at a far distance, leading to high latency and unreliable connection. By leveraging the world’s satellite constellation using a low-earth orbit, Starlink can support streaming, online gaming, video calls and more,” the site states. Starlink can withstand the extreme cold, heat, hail, sleet, heavy rain and gale-force winds. You will need a clear view of the sky in order to stay linked to the satellite network.
The Journal reached out to Starlink to learn more about the product and its decision to provide services in Guam and the region. The company acknowledged the email but had not responded to questions as of press time. mbj
