War of words erupts between Elon Musk and NBN over use of Starlink

Donald Trump’s right-hand man has taken aim at Australia’s NBN after it was revealed his rival Starlink service could have a role in the Australian federal election.

Elon Musk has launched an attack on Australia’s NBN as it was revealed his rival Starlink service would be used as a backup during Australia’s federal election.

The cost-cutting tsar trying to slash $1 trillion from the White House’s budget took aim at Australia’s government-owned broadband provider.

Mr Musk, whose company Space X owns Starlink, was critical of the cost of the NBN.

“Doesn’t seem to make sense,” Mr Musk wrote in a post on X, linked to an article about the high costs of the NBN compared with Starlink.

The article claimed that NBN services cost as much as 10 times more than his low earth orbit Starlink service.

But the NBN has hit back, rejecting the figures and saying its services were faster than Mr Musk’s cut-price internet.

“NBN full fibre is currently up to 4x faster than Starlink, and it will be 7x faster than Starlink by September when NBN Co launches new plans on Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) and Hybrid Fibre Coaxial (HFC) that will offer wholesale download speeds of up to 2 Gbps,” the NBN said in a statement on Friday.

Starlink is operated by Elon Musk’s company, Space X. Picture: AFP

The NBN also rejected the comparison that its upgrade would cost $6100 per household, compared with $549 for a Starlink router.

Starlink has become popular in regional areas of Australia but has stopped taking on new customers in parts of Queensland and Western Australia because of congestion on its network.

The spat comes after the Australian Electoral Commission confirmed it is planning to use Starlink for the transfer of sensitive voting results details at the expected May election.

“The AEC will use Starlink services as a backup telecommunications platform as part of our contract with Telstra for fixed line internet services. Starlink is one of several possible backup services, which also include 4G mobile,” a spokesperson said, according to The Guardian Australia.

All data would be encrypted, the spokesperson told the publication.

“This service is part of our business continuity to ensure that encrypted election results data is communicated securely in a timely manner on election night and the weeks that follow.”

A trail of a group of SpaceX's Starlink satellites passing over Uruguay as seen from the countryside some 185km north of Montevideo near Capilla del Sauce, Florida. Picture: AFP

The AEC appointed Telstra responsible for the agency’s fixed line and Starlink services until mid-2027, a contract published late last year shows. The deal is apparently worth $1.38m.

Starlink comprises a network of thousands of low-orbit satellites that provide high-speed internet to areas where there is limited access.

In an interview with ARNnet, specialist in international space law Cassandra Steer warned of the risks of using LEO satellites by Starlink.

“They had this LEO telecommunications working group for a couple of years. I would suggest they probably didn’t have sufficient technical input and cyber security input into that group,” she said. “It was mostly telecommunications companies saying, ‘This is where the market is [and] where the opportunities are’.”

Steer warned Musk’s unpredictable nature and the geopolitical situation in America would leave Australia open to “unpredictability and vulnerability” and a “s**tstorm”.

“If we had this conversation last year, I would have had all these other concerns we’ve discussed anyway,” she said.

“But I think right now, it’s on steroids and it’s magnified many, many times over.”

Steer told ARNnet that Starlink also contains complexities that can’t be ignored, including cyber security, non-transparency of third party supplier and regulatory concerns.

Steer said that the easiest way to interfere with a satellite signal is cyber interference.

Originally published as War of words erupts between Elon Musk and NBN over use of Starlink