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While everyone is watching to see how Elon Musk’s Twitter acquisition will impact the world of social media, Phil Tarrant and Tom Panos have tipped real estate professionals to keep a keen eye on how one of the billionaire’s ventures could change the property game.
Speaking on a recent episode of Real Estate Exposed, the Real Estate Gym founder and trainer and REB’s executive editor looked at how Starlink, a satellite internet constellation operated by Mr Musk’s SpaceX, could make regional Australian localities even more attractive in years to come.
Mr Tarrant opined that entrepreneurs who are aiming to shake up tech sectors are set to exert significant influence on how some of Australia’s markets perform in the future.
“One of the top five things that will shape real estate in Australia over the coming sort of three years is access to the internet,” Mr Tarrant predicted.
“People like Elon Musk, I believe, are going to have a fundamental impact on Australian property moving forward.
“Why, you ask. Well, he’s got this thing called Starlink, which is satellite internet. He’s got thousands of satellites whirling around the world he’s launching out of his SpaceX facility.”
Regional Australia, according to Mr Tarrant, has been embracing this new tech, even in its nascent stage.
“Once upon a time, up until now, at best, you had a shoddy satellite connection or some sort of a NBN service. At worst, you were operating on ADSL. And this was stifling people’s ability to work in these regional areas. The introduction of SpaceX’s Starlink — you’re getting download speeds up over 300 megabytes per second,” Mr Tarrant explained.
Mr Panos became aware of the tech’s utility during a recent trip to Byron Bay when locals commented that it had been a reliable source for the internet during the floods, even while NBN and 4G connections had been knocked out.
According to locals on the ground, the rates were even comparable to what they would be paying under different providers.
“Because of the floods and that Northern Rivers’ [internet] had been impacted, someone told me in Byron Bay, he said, ‘I know we’ve been using the Elon Musk one.’ I asked him, ‘Is it expensive?’ He said, ‘No, about the same,’” Mr Panos reported.
The service was subsequently mobilised on a greater scale than it had been before to provide a crucial channel of communication for cut-off communities during the floods. Mr Musk has also sent Starlink terminals to Ukraine to assist during the country’s current, devastating conflict.
“It’s an absolute game changer,” Mr Tarrant remarked, noting that in Australia, regional areas are set to benefit most of all.
“This alone is going to change the ability for people to work on a more flexible basis.
“It will change real estate because the internet now is as important as power for the modern knowledge worker — or all workers. So if you’ve got [high-speed internet] and you’ve got control over it and stability, a lot more people are going to be looking at these lifestyle locations,” he said.
Mr Panos included himself in that cohort.
“That’s music to my ears. Because my business model now, apart from face-to-face auctions on a Saturday, if I’ve got just incredible wi-fi that allows video to be consumed at super fast speeds … I’ve got to tell you, I have every reason in the world not to be working out of Sydney,” he said.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Juliet Helmke
Based in Sydney, Juliet Helmke has a broad range of reporting and editorial experience across the areas of business, technology, entertainment and the arts. She was formerly Senior Editor at The New York Observer.
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