Pricing for Starlink service is set to rise by over 10%, according to a report in the Verge. An email announcing the Starlink pricing hike blames the price increase on rising inflation.
The new Starlink pricing jumps to $110 per month, up from $99, an increase of over 11%. Equipment costs are also increasing, now at $599, not including shipping or tax, which can push the upfront total cost closer to $700.
There are perhaps tens of thousands of prospective Starlink subscribers who already reserved service by putting down a $99 deposit, based on the original pricing of $99 per month and $499 for equipment.
Little luck for them, as the new $110 Starlink pricing will be in effect, although they will get a break on the equipment, paying $549 instead of $599 for all new subscribers. The Verge reports the new monthly pricing will come into effect at different times for different customers.
Ookla recently reported the median download speed for Starlink service was 104.97 Mbps during the fourth quarter of 2021
By my estimation, Starlink pricing was already pretty high, at least from a competitive standpoint. It’s all relative though. If you’re in a rural area with no other option, you probably have a different perspective. But in a competitive market, $110 a month and close to $700 just to get started is quite high.
Starlink Subscribers
Starlink service has hit a total of 250K subscribers worldwide, Starlink reported at the Satellite 2022 Conference, taking place this week in Washington DC. That’s up sharply from 145K subscribers, which was the subscriber count that a SpaceX engineer reported during a January 2022 launch.
The company has also picked up the pace of launching satellites, having launched three Starlink missions so far in March alone. The satellite broadband provider recently lost 40 satellites to a geomagnetic storm.
