Musk believes that internet connectivity may be one of the most effective ways to help people escape poverty.

Once connected to the internet, you can access information from all over the world, MIT courses, and sell your goods and services. But without internet access, or if it's too expensive or the bandwidth is too low, none of this applies to you.

GDP is a function of per capita productivity. Once technologies like Starlink increase per capita productivity, it will be reflected in a country's GDP.