Starlink’s recent global price increase has hit rural New Zealand users directly, with local conditions carrying no weight in the decision, TUANZ chief executive Craig Young says.

“Their drive is not necessarily to provide the best for rural New Zealanders because they’re a global company,” says Young.

“This is a growing risk, and I think one that we need to be mindful of.”

Young says the situation was foreseeable, saying Starlink delivered genuine quality, but its rapid market dominance was always a risk.

“All credit to them, they’ve done what any other provider would do; they’ve sucked up the market.

“Where we get to now is that we’re in a position where they raised their prices globally two weeks ago, and that hits New Zealand straight off.”

It is difficult to place guardrails on an organisation without a New Zealand presence, Young says, and that vulnerability will grow as extreme weather events knock out terrestrial networks, and satellite services become the default fallback.

He says Amazon’s LEO satellite service entering the New Zealand market is a positive step.

“If you look at the mobile market, we didn’t really have great competition until we got the third player.

“You need more than two – three is a good starting point.”

Alongside new providers, Young says regional and wireless ISPs that received investment through rural broadband initiatives need continued support.

“We need more of these types of providers in the market, as well as strengthening our New Zealand-owned terrestrial networks.”

Young says the government’s management of the radio spectrum needs to change.

“What we need the government to do is look at it not as a cash cow, but as ‘where do we make the best use of this national asset for New Zealanders?’

“We need to look at how we can reduce that rural penalty, because why should rural New Zealanders be held ransom just because they don’t live in a big urban area?”

CountryWide CONNECT with Andy Thompson & Sarah Perriam-Lampp is our daily rural show livestreamed from 11am-1pm. Visit country-wide.co.nz on how to watch/listen or download the CountryWide CONNECT mobile app, available on Apple iOS and Android.