Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is plotting to challenge Elon Musk’s Starlink in the UK broadband market, with plans to launch an alternative — dubbed Project Kuiper — as early as this year. Starlink uses satellites orbiting the Earth to power your home Wi-Fi connection, instead of a fibre-optic cable.
The arrival of a new satellite-powered broadband supplier was revealed in filings with British communications regulator Ofcom. It marks the latest chapter in the ongoing rivalry between two of the world’s richest men, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, who also own competing rocket companies in Blue Origin and SpaceX, respectively.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX firm is responsible for delivering the satellites used by Starlink to power fast broadband across the globe
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According to documents filed with Ofcom, first spotted by the eagle-eyed team at The Times, Project Kuiper hopes to access spectrum bands in the UK “over the next one to two years” as it develops its satellite system. So far, the experimental system has only launched prototype satellites but eventually hopes to have more than 3,000 in low-earth orbit.
In comparison, Starlink launched its first satellite in 2019 and now boasts more than 6,700 in orbit above our planet. The Elon Musk-owned firm has established a significant presence in the UK, with approximately 87,000 customers across the country.
In terms of speed, the website states: “Starlink users typically experience download speeds between 25 and 220Mbps, with a majority of users experiencing speeds over 100Mbps.”
How does that compare to other Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in the UK?
As of 2024, the median average internet speed in the UK has increased to 73.21 Mbps — a significant increase of over 12% compared to the last records, published in September 2022. Average upload speeds have shown remarkable improvement, surging by almost a fifth (18%) between September 2022 and March 2023, reaching an impressive 18.4 Mbps.
That dramatic hike can be attributed to BT-owned Openreach, which confirmed earlier this month that it’s now upgraded 17 million homes across the UK to its speediest full-fibre internet.
Openreach is expanding its broadband network at a breakneck pace — adding an additional 78,000 premises to its full-fibre broadband cables every single week. That’s equivalent to wiring up speedy broadband to a city the size of Peterborough every seven days.
The sheer number of satellites already in orbit — essential for a seamless, uninterrupted internet connection — gives Elon Musk’s Starlink a considerable headstart over Amazon’s Project Kuiper.
Both companies aim to serve a diverse range of customers in the UK, including retail, business and Government sectors. In its filing to Ofcom, Project Kuiper specifically highlighted its suitability for reaching hard-to-serve areas within Britain, positioning itself as a solution for remote connectivity challenges.
As it stands, Openreach plans to upgrade 25 million homes and businesses by the end of next year, with plans to expand that to as many as 30 million premises by the end of the decade. Under current UK Government plans, gigabit-capable broadband speeds are only required in more than 85% of the country.
The remaining 15% of homes and businesses — primarily in hard-to-reach rural areas — could be served with alternatives to underground fibre-optic cables, like the satellite-based solution offered by Starlink and Project Kuiper.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos pictured with fiancé Lauren Sanchez at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party after the Academy Awards in California last year
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According to Openreach, uptake of the faster full-fibre speeds has reached 35%. That means a little over one-third of those who live in a property that has been upgraded to these lightning-fast download speeds has decided to switch to a new broadband plan that takes advantage of these improvements.
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This hints at a pretty strong customer adoption of the new technology, which makes sense as last year saw a significant increase in network usage, with UK broadband traffic rising by 10.8% throughout the year.
The rivalry between Bezos and Musk extends far beyond satellite broadband, with both billionaires leading competing space ventures. Musk founded SpaceX in 2002, while Bezos established Blue Origin in 2000, though SpaceX has maintained a significant lead in the space race.
The competition spans multiple industries, with Amazon backing Tesla rival Rivian in the electric vehicle market. Amazon’s Zoox division is also competing with Tesla in the development of autonomous vehicles.
