Currently, less than half the world's population is online. Of those with internet access, the average connection speed is 5.1 Mbps, just enough to stream a show on Netflix in standard definition without any hiccups.
Of course, faster speeds are available. Google Fiber, for instance, is offering insanely fast internet speeds of 1 Gbps. Nokia claims it can do even better. Unfortunately, the average person simply doesn't have access to it.
But imagine if you could get internet speeds as fast as that of Google Fiber anywhere in the world. In the city, in the suburbs, even far out in the country. That's what Elon Musk's SpaceX wants to offer.
According to a recent report from Business Insider, the company has filed an FCC application to launch over 4,000 satellites. The purpose?
"The system is designed to provide a wide range of broadband and communications services for residential, commercial, institutional, governmental and professional users worldwide," the SpaceX application reads.
The application proposes a launch plan with two phases. The first phase will allow SpaceX "to provide widespread U.S. and international coverage for broadband services." The second phase "once fully optimized... will be able to provide high bandwidth (up to 1 Gbps per user), low latency broadband services for consumers and businesses in the U.S. and globally."
Anyone who has ever used satellite internet knows it's currently a substandard option. Speeds pale in comparison to cable or fiber internet. Data caps further cripple such services, keeping people in rural locations from being able to rely on video streaming from services like Netflix or Sling TV.
However, Musk's SpaceX initiative could cause a massive shift, making average global internet speed 200 times faster.
One that is sure to have ISPs feeling mighty uncomfortable. As cord cutting grows and the way we watch TV shifts, companies like Comcast need to rely on profits from internet service to make up for lost pay-TV revenue. Let's face it. It's why Comcast and other companies are instituting data caps (and why so many people are pissed about it).
Of course, a few questions remain. Will SpaceX's internet service truly be affordable? And how reliable will the signals be? Let's hope, for the sake of the 50% of the world without internet, that Musk's initiative succeeds.