As Starlink Resellers Expand, MetTel Hits Milestone

Managed network services provider and aggregator MetTel made its Starlink-based satellite internet services generally available to enterprises and businesses.

New York-based MetTel announced on Wednesday that it has become Starlink's only authorized reseller that owns both commercial and government agreements. The news comes as Starlink's low earth orbit (LEO) connectivity increases its adoption among business customers and the channel partners that sell it.

MetTel announced in 2022 that it was deploying its VMware-based software-defined wide area networking (SD-WAN) service over Starlink. MetTel notes that this original arrangement came through MetTel's R&D division. Now enterprises can access the solution "regardless of location or circumstances."

"In strong partnership with MetTel, we have created a Velocloud/VMware solution that has performed very well for us," said John Pieratt, business unit executive for financial technology provider FIS. "As far as Starlink is concerned, this is a big deal for us. It adds another option for connectivity we use to build into our designs. The satellite service allows for low latency, performs very well and provides another level of diversity – wired/wireless versus the wired/wired diversity you would get from other traditional connectivity options."

Related:Partners Get Hands on Starlink, Low Earth Orbit Satellites

By completing its In addition, MetTel can add Starlink to its existing government accounts. The resellers has already earned "billions of dollars" in those deals, creating a new opportunity for Starlink as the SpaceX subsidiary seeks to expand more beyond the consumer market.

MetTel's Ed Fox

"We are seeing a wide range of business and government use cases that call for the secure, high-speed performance of MetTel SD-WAN and the anywhere, anytime access afforded by Starlink," said Ed Fox, chief technology officer of MetTel. "MetTel will also leverage technologies such as private 5G and spectrum like Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) to leverage Starlink to serve fixed networks and mobile devices."

Ed Fox recently told Channel Future's podcast that LEO-based connectivity continues to improve on speed and latency and is outperforming fixed wireless access on average.

Growing Number of Starlink Resellers

A number of resellers and service providers have signed up with Starlink in the last two years, and many of these partners function as suppliers for the technology advisor (agent) channel. That includes, Airespring, which announced an agreement with Starlink in July. BCN in September announced a LEO offering but did not state the underlying satellite provider.

Related:Coffee with Craig and James Episode 141: MetTel, Low-Earth Orbit Satellites

Channel Futures in April counted 62 authorized commercial resellers on Starlink's website. That number stands at more than 110 today, not including the many providers that have signed up under Peplink.