Starlink slashes broadband prices for some
March 13, 2023
By Chris Forrester
SpaceX’s Starlink broadband-by-satellite service has slashed its deposit fees on dozens of countries. New subscribers in many countries can sign up for as little as $9 (€8.40) instead of the – to date – $99 (and as high as $599 in the past) for the Starlink kit.
Countries such as Turkey can access Starlink for just a $9 deposit. Nigerian consumers could access Starlink since January while the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Kenya and Tanzania, will see service supplied later in 2023.
However, Starlink’s web-site cautions: “Availability is subject to regulatory approval”.
Observers suggest that the new pricing seems to apply to those countries with low per capita incomes.
It also seems that Starlink is generally adjusting prices. Effective April 24th, some users in “limited capacity” areas will see prices rise. Meanwhile, potential users in “excess capacity” areas will fall. In the US prices will rise $10 per month, to $120, for users in limited capacity areas, while prices will fall by $20 a month to $90, for those in excess capacity areas.
One nation that isn’t keen on Starlink is Iran, where it has asked the ITU to intervene and pressure the US to force Starlink – which is unlicensed in Iran – to cease access for its citizens.
Elon Musk, in one of his Tweets, just before Christmas said that Starlink had “approaching 100 active Starlinks in Iran”.
In its formal petition to the ITU, Iran states that Starlink’s flouting of ITU regulations “will raise serious concerns that a private company is using its technology in a manner that may adversely affect the integrity of the infrastructures of a sovereign state to the detriment of its security and the security of its people”.