Amazon founder to launch UK satellite broadband

While the UK Government’s Project Gigabit continues its battle to get rural Britain connected, many hard-to-reach areas remain underserved when it comes to fast and dependable broadband.

In such parts of the UK, many businesses and homeowners have sought out advanced solutions, like Elon Musk’s low orbit satellite internet service called Starlink. Instead of using a fibre-optic cable, Starlink employs satellites circling the Earth to power people’s Wi-Fi.

Recently, Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, has unveiled he aims to present an alternative to Starlink. Called Project Kuiper, the new satellite broadband option surfaced in British telecommunications regulator Ofcom’s filing and is set to become available to access this year.

News of the all-new offering from Amazon’s founder is another chapter in the continuing competition between Bezos and Musk, who are two of the wealthiest men in the world. Already they have attempted to rival each other through their aerospace companies, Bezos’ Blue Origin and Musk’s SpaceX – the latter of which supplies the satellites employed by the Starlink service.

First identified by The Times, the documents filed at Ofcom state that Project Kuiper seeks to access UK-based spectrum bands during the next couple of years as it works to create its new satellite system. To date, the experimental system has launched only prototype satellites. However, its goal is to have over 3,000 satellites in low-earth orbit.

Already well-established since launching in 2019, Starlink currently has over 6,700 satellites in orbit over Earth, and has a substantial presence here in the UK, with around 87,000 customers.