That's funny because I assumed Starlink was just a POC for "best way to have internet on Mars".
Starlink is an easy way to make oodles of money, which they can redirect toward getting to Mars.
They can launch their satellites at cost (or less, if they sell ride sharing). No other telecom can do that. And their customer cost is already fraction of everyone else's.
Add to that their mass-production optimized satellites, and no one else can even touch them. There is a very good chance that Starlink will achieve its goal of printing money.