Elon Musk's Starlink satellite internet service has been activated in another Middle East and North Africa country, continuing its recent run of providing advanced communications in the region.
The company, a subsidiary of Texas-based SpaceX, said in an X post on Friday that its services have been activated in Bahrain, after Oman in March and Jordan in April.
Bahrain joins Oman, Qatar and Yemen as Middle East countries with access to the service.
Kuwait is also expected to have Starlink’s high-speed, low-latency internet service at some point in 2025, according to Starlink’s website.
The satellite internet service is coming soon in Saudi Arabia's aviation and maritime sectors too, Mr Musk revealed in Riyadh this week, as part of US President Donald Trump's tour of the Gulf.
While it is not available in the UAE, Starlink in 2023 had teamed up with Dubai-based marine electronics company Elcome International to provide internet services to the maritime industry.
The kingdom and the Emirates are listed as "pending regulatory approval", according to Starlink's website.
Starlink is hastening its growth as it pushes to gain a bigger foothold of the market and try to fend off rising competition.
What is Starlink?
Starlink is a satellite constellation service that provides internet access using satellites that orbit the planet at between heights of 200km and 2,000km.
For perspective, the International Space Station is at 408km, while Hubble Space Telescope is at 547km.
The service provides high-speed, low-latency broadband internet. Within each coverage area, orders are fulfilled on a first-come, first-served basis.
How fast is Starlink?
Starlink users "typically experience" download speeds between 25 and 220Mbps, with a majority of users experiencing speeds over 100Mbps, according to its website.
The company intends to reach speeds of up to 1 gigabit per second.
Latest figures show that there are more than 7,100 Starlink satellites in service − with the company aiming for a total of 42,000.
The launch of more satellites and fine-tuning of the service is expected to increase speeds further.
How does satellite internet differ from 5G service?
To have access to the internet using a 5G connection − or any broadband connection − you need to be within range of a cell tower. The closer you are, the better and faster your connection should be.
With a satellite, you can gain access to the internet, even in the middle of nowhere.
And, in terms of speed, this is a no-contest as 5G, which is up to 20 times faster than 4G, can provide download speeds of anywhere between 1Gbps to 10Gbps, depending on how close you are to a cell tower.
Starlink's planned top speed is at the low end of 5G at this point.
How much is a Starlink subscription?
Starlink has two main subscription categories: personal and business.
Based on US pricing, under personal, there's residential, with monthly plans at $80 and $120, and roam, costing $50 and $165 for unlimited data.
In business, the local priority tier ranges from $65 to $540, while the top-tier global priority – "best for maritime and global connectivity" – starts at $250 and tops out at $2,150.
These fees are in addition to hardware costs – routers, cables, etc. – which start at $349.
Does Starlink have any competitors?
Yes. In the US, it is up against Viasat and HughesNet, both veterans in the industry, having been founded in 1986 and 1971, respectively.
And, of course, there's Amazon, whose founder Jeff Bezos has been challenging Mr Musk in the space race.
In its latest move, Mr Bezos launched the first 27 internet satellites of Amazon's Project Kuiper constellation in April.
If you go
Flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh with a stop in Yangon from Dh3,075, and Etihad flies from Abu Dhabi to Phnom Penh with its partner Bangkok Airlines from Dh2,763. These trips take about nine hours each and both include taxes. From there, a road transfer takes at least four hours; airlines including KC Airlines (www.kcairlines.com) offer quick connecting flights from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville from about $100 (Dh367) return including taxes. Air Asia, Malindo Air and Malaysian Airlines fly direct from Kuala Lumpur to Sihanoukville from $54 each way. Next year, direct flights are due to launch between Bangkok and Sihanoukville, which will cut the journey time by a third.
The stay
Rooms at Alila Villas Koh Russey (www.alilahotels.com/ kohrussey) cost from $385 per night including taxes.
Dubai World Cup factbox
Most wins by a trainer: Godolphin’s Saeed bin Suroor(9)
Most wins by a jockey: Jerry Bailey(4)
Most wins by an owner: Godolphin(9)
Most wins by a horse: Godolphin’s Thunder Snow(2)
Wenger's Arsenal reign in numbers
1,228 - games at the helm, ahead of Sunday's Premier League fixture against West Ham United.
704 - wins to date as Arsenal manager.
3 - Premier League title wins, the last during an unbeaten Invincibles campaign of 2003/04.
1,549 - goals scored in Premier League matches by Wenger's teams.
10 - major trophies won.
473 - Premier League victories.
7 - FA Cup triumphs, with three of those having come the last four seasons.
151 - Premier League losses.
21 - full seasons in charge.
49 - games unbeaten in the Premier League from May 2003 to October 2004.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
