IF YOU'VE EVER pulled out your phone in a rural area, you'll know that it can be a frustrating experience. Will the website load? Will you be able to send that message? Or maybe things are even worse: do you have enough signal to call for help?
Despite our phones being critical to our lives, not all phone signals are distributed evenly. According to Ofcom, network coverage of the UK landmass ranges from around 79 to 86 per cent. This means that if you hike up a mountain, or take a wander through the wilderness, you might be really stuck if disaster strikes.
And that's why an announcement made by Elon Musk's rocket company SpaceX and American phone network T-Mobile recently blew my mind a little.
Way back in January 2021 I wrote about how SpaceX is building StarLink, a new “mega-constellation” of broadband internet satellites. Since then, the company has continued to launch hundreds and hundreds of new satellites, and today for a mere £89 a month, it’s possible to receive speeds of between 90 and 200Mbps almost anywhere on Earth. That’s about as fast as a lower-end home broadband package—but with no ground-based phone masts or transmitters required.
Denne historien er fra December 2022-utgaven av Reader's Digest UK.
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Denne historien er fra December 2022-utgaven av Reader's Digest UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
EVERY SECOND COUNTS: TIPS TO WIN THE RACE AGAINST TIME
Do you want to save 1.5 seconds every day of your life? According to the dishwasher expert at the consumer organisation Choice, there’s no need to insert the dishwashing tablet into the compartment inside the door.
May Fiction
An escaped slave's perspective renews Huckleberry Finn and the seconds tick down to nuclear Armageddon in Miriam Sallon’s top literary picks this month
Wine Not
In a time of warning studies about alcohol consumption, Paola Westbeek looks at non-alcoholic wines, how they taste and if they pair with food
Train Booking Hacks
With the cost of train travel seemingly always rising, Andy Webb gives some tips to save on ticket prices
JOURNEY TO SALTEN, NORWAY, UNDER THE MIDNIGHT SUN
Here, far from the crowds, in opal clarity, from May to September, the sun knows no rest. As soon as it’s about to set, it rises again
My Britain: Cheltenham
A YEAR IN CHELTENHAM sees a jazz festival, a science festival, a classical music festival and a literature festival. Few towns with 120,000 residents can boast such a huge cultural output!
GET A GREEN(ER) THUMB
Whether you love digging in the dirt, planting seeds and reaping the bounty that bursts forth, or find the whole idea of gardening intimidating, this spring offers the promise of a fresh start.
Under The GRANDFLUENCE Suzi Grant
After working in TV and radio as an author and nutritionist, Suzi Grant started a blog alternativeageing.net) and an Instagram account alternativeageing). She talks to Ian Chaddock about positive ageing”
Sam Quek: If I Ruled The World
Sam Quek MBE is an Olympic gold medalwinning hockey player, team captain on A Question of Sport and host of podcast series Amazing Starts Here
Stand Tall, Ladies
Shorter men may be having their moment, but where are the tall women?
