Can Elon Musk’s Starlink technology help Highland communities in a crisis?
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Highland Council thinks it just might.
The local authority has confirmed that it’s exploring whether SpaceX Starlink could help connect communities in a major emergency.
Councillors attended a recent briefing on resilience – that’s how the council plans to respond to significant emergency events.
Officers said that in the event of a communications blackout, Elon Musk’s satellite internet constellation could offer a solution.
Highland councillor and ex-police chief Matthew Reiss suggested that emergency planning has come sharply into focus following recent events in Ukraine.
He said the council was showing “good sense” by thinking ahead.
A spokesman for Highland Council explained that SpaceX’s Starlink system could be used in the event of a power outage.
“It uses thousands of small satellites in low earth orbit to provide satellite internet access,” he said.
Starlink uses constellations of satellites less than 2000km from the ground. By contrast, geostationary satellite systems orbit 36,000km from the surface of the earth.
Starlink is able to offer faster and higher capacity internet than established systems. Highland Council believes it could be particularly useful if a storm – like those we saw last winter – takes out the telecommunications infrastructure.
“The Starlink satellite system could offer an extra layer of resilience,” said the spokesman. “So long as a terminal on the ground is provided with power, it should be possible for internet connectivity to be established.”
Councillor Matthew Reiss, a former police chief, says Highland Council’s Starlink plan isn’t as far fetched as it sounds.
“In major incidents, communications are always the first thing that the different agencies rely on,” said Mr Reiss. “If they fail, it causes significant problems because agencies find it difficult to plan an effective response.”
Highland Council’s resilience meeting is thought to have reflected on a range of local emergencies, to help plan their responses.
One such event goes back ten years, when thieves damaged a subsea fibre optic cable in Lochcarron – causing a huge communications blackout. More than 10,000 people lost phone and broadband services, and 10 communities lost their 999 service.
“If communication services go down the police will try to get the message out by any other means necessary,” says Mr Reiss. “On occasions they will station police cars in key community areas to reassure people that there’s a police presence.
“If people are well informed, they can generally tolerate and prepare for any disruption. In the Highlands and Islands we tend to cope with that better than in cities, because we’re more used to natural emergencies.”
Mr Reiss said resilience is “ultimately about common sense”.
Highland Council says it’s early days
Highland Council emphasised that Starlink is not yet part of any official resilience planning. Nor has it been costed or any approach made.
“This is an emerging technology which brings potential benefits for emergency responders and communities alike, but it is in early days of development,” said the spokesman.
“However, we are considering the opportunities and constraints and sharing information within resilience partnership forums to determine if Starlink could be of practical benefit to emergency responders in the Highlands.”
Mr Reiss suggested that in these turbulent times, it pays to think ahead.
“A year or even a few months ago most people might have thought this was a bit OTT,” he said. “But given what Putin has done in the Ukraine and some of the rhetoric around that, it’s not really pie in the sky – excuse the pun.
“I think we should feel reassured that Highland Council is actively working on its resilience plans.”
