Photo: Starlink
Following the launch of the “finest fragrance on Earth,” Burnt Hair, Elon Musk is no longer a billionaire, the Tony Stark of our reality, or the man who’ll make Mars a second home for us all. His Twitter description reads he’s now a perfume salesman, and he just got a brilliant new idea.
This new idea does not concern Tesla, or SpaceX rockets, or the Boring Company, but Starlink. That’s right, the constellation of satellites originally meant to bring Internet to those in need of it, presumably for rates that didn’t require one to have fat bank accounts.
But at $110 per month and a one-time hardware cost of $599, the technology is not exactly cheap. Sure, most Americans can afford it, but the people that could have benefited the most from it, those in underdeveloped countries or places where traditional wired or wireless Internet can't reach, find Starlink prohibitively expensive.
Even with those high rates, as Musk recently admitted, Starlink is losing money big time. So much so, that the man was almost on the edge of pulling his financial support for the Starlink hardware and connection the Ukrainian military is using in its fight against Russia.
With that in mind, it’s unlikely the company will pick up the bill to supply its services to those truly in need. But that doesn’t mean you can’t…
A few hours ago, Ham Serunjogi, CEO of African cross-border money transfer platform Chipper Cash, announced on Twitter he got himself Starlink, and is so excited about how it works he’d be “glad to commit $$ to donate Starlink to schools & hospitals in Uganda.”
Seeing the opportunity, Musk quickly asked if “are there others that want to donate Starlinks to places in need?,” only to top that off with “Ok, we will add a donate option to Starlink.”
How soon, how it’ll work, and what the money will be used for are details still to be announced. Provided Musk is serious about this, of course.
But at $110 per month and a one-time hardware cost of $599, the technology is not exactly cheap. Sure, most Americans can afford it, but the people that could have benefited the most from it, those in underdeveloped countries or places where traditional wired or wireless Internet can't reach, find Starlink prohibitively expensive.
Even with those high rates, as Musk recently admitted, Starlink is losing money big time. So much so, that the man was almost on the edge of pulling his financial support for the Starlink hardware and connection the Ukrainian military is using in its fight against Russia.
With that in mind, it’s unlikely the company will pick up the bill to supply its services to those truly in need. But that doesn’t mean you can’t…
A few hours ago, Ham Serunjogi, CEO of African cross-border money transfer platform Chipper Cash, announced on Twitter he got himself Starlink, and is so excited about how it works he’d be “glad to commit $$ to donate Starlink to schools & hospitals in Uganda.”
Seeing the opportunity, Musk quickly asked if “are there others that want to donate Starlinks to places in need?,” only to top that off with “Ok, we will add a donate option to Starlink.”
How soon, how it’ll work, and what the money will be used for are details still to be announced. Provided Musk is serious about this, of course.
Ok, we will add a donate option to Starlink
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 17, 2022
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