The satellite internet service provider, Starlink, has changed its policies and introduced new subscription plans.
In a change from its original plan, Starlink will not impose a data cap on subscribers. Last December, the company planned to put a monthly data restriction of 1TB in the United States and Canada, but it was postponed until April. The parent company of Starlink, SpaceX, appears to have changed its mind regarding Starlink subscribers.
PC Mag first reported the story, mentioning a change to Starlink’s website’s FAQ section. In addition to the new, Priority option for governments, businesses, and superusers, customers with a Standard plan or a Mobile subscription now get unlimited data.
SpaceX also revised the “Fair Use Policy,” which originally specified customers would have to pay USD 0.25 per GB after exceeding the 1TB limitation on their high-speed data consumption. During periods of network congestion, customers’ Starlink speeds would be reduced to “basic access” if they refused to pay.
Starlink updated data plans:
Instead, the revised Fair Use Policy now states Starlink subscribers on the residential and roam tier would receive an “unlimited amount of ‘Standard’ data each month.”
For residential users of the Standard data plan, download speeds can vary from 25Mbps to 100Mbps, and for roaming plan members, they can range from 5Mbps to 50Mbps. Before this, SpaceX had been promoting roughly those speeds for its services.
While Priority plans can deliver speeds from 40Mbps up to 220Mbps or higher during times of peak usage. It is available at 1TB, 2TB, or 6TB of high-speed data with a price range of USD 250 to USD 1,500 per month. Subscribers can change to the new priority plan by going to their account.
“Customers who exhaust and have not purchased additional Priority data will be allocated an unlimited amount of Standard data for the remainder of the month,” SpaceX adds.
In comparison, the consumer-focused Starlink home package costs at most USD 120 per month in the US. However, the new priority plan suggests that users would be limited to slower speeds unless they pay more.
SpaceX first announced the high-speed data limits to ease network congestion. The Starlink service has proven to be so popular in many parts of the United States that the influx of users has stretched capacity and slowed speeds.
The company also launched the Mobile Priority data plan that is for subscribers who have the high-end, effective Starlink dish, which can run up to USD 2,500 and is compatible with boats. This plan also has speeds of 40Mbps up to 220Mbps. It is also way more expensive than other plans since its high-speed data is available at 50GB, 1TB, and 5TB with a price range of USD 250 to USD 5,000.
To increase capacity, SpaceX has been launching dozens of extra Starlink satellites at the same time as the decision to remove the data caps. After the company increased prices for US Starlink subscribers who live in crowded areas in February, imposing the high-speed data cap could have alienated some subscribers.
