Photo: Christopher Stanley via Twitter
Starlink’s internet service is a hit, thanks to its ability to offer premium connectivity in the most remote areas of the globe. It doesn’t come cheap, though. Nevertheless, the Europeans are lucky because SpaceX has significantly lowered the monthly fees.
Everyone praises Starlink, especially those that wouldn’t expect to get online in reasonable conditions (or at all) without SpaceX’s service. But it was rather expensive, with monthly fees of $110 in the U.S. and around 100 euros in Europe. Even so, SpaceX could hardly keep up with the demand. Stateside, people have to line up to get access to the service, facing long waiting times.
In Europe, the geography and the denser communities allow for better land internet services, which makes the Starlink service less compelling. This has been finally acknowledged by SpaceX, and the costs of the service have been lowered accordingly. This goes as far as 50% down in France and some Eastern European Countries, with the fees dropping from 99 euros ($99) to 50 euros ($50) or even less.
Most European countries recorded a decrease in the monthly service fees, with Austria and Netherlands being the most expensive, at 85 euros. The fees drop to 80 euros ($80) in Germany and Belgium, 70 euros ($70) in Italy and Spain, and 65 euros ($65) in Portugal. Even the Brits saw a sizeable decrease to 75 pounds sterling ($89). The existing customers in European countries received an email explaining the change.
“The price reduction factors in your local market conditions and is meant to reflect parity in purchasing power across our customers,” reads the email shared on Twitter. “No action is needed from you, the price reduction will be automatically reflected on invoices generated after 24.08.2022. Thank you for being an early customer and for your continued support of Starlink!”
The key takeaway from this email is “local market conditions,” and this pretty much explains why Americans don’t get a price reduction. On the contrary, Starlink is enrolling even more customers on a new “best-effort” tier. This is meant to shorten the waiting time to get the service in the U.S. Despite having a worse connection than the regular customers (slower internet speeds), they will pay the same price ($110).
Unlike Residential, Best Effort users can pause service until a regular connection becomes available if they are not satisfied. Canceling the service would lose their place in line for Residential service. Starlink Best Effort customers will not have access to online gaming, video calling, and streaming in 4K. The internet speed is not guaranteed and depends on the network loading at a particular time.
In Europe, the geography and the denser communities allow for better land internet services, which makes the Starlink service less compelling. This has been finally acknowledged by SpaceX, and the costs of the service have been lowered accordingly. This goes as far as 50% down in France and some Eastern European Countries, with the fees dropping from 99 euros ($99) to 50 euros ($50) or even less.
Most European countries recorded a decrease in the monthly service fees, with Austria and Netherlands being the most expensive, at 85 euros. The fees drop to 80 euros ($80) in Germany and Belgium, 70 euros ($70) in Italy and Spain, and 65 euros ($65) in Portugal. Even the Brits saw a sizeable decrease to 75 pounds sterling ($89). The existing customers in European countries received an email explaining the change.
“The price reduction factors in your local market conditions and is meant to reflect parity in purchasing power across our customers,” reads the email shared on Twitter. “No action is needed from you, the price reduction will be automatically reflected on invoices generated after 24.08.2022. Thank you for being an early customer and for your continued support of Starlink!”
The key takeaway from this email is “local market conditions,” and this pretty much explains why Americans don’t get a price reduction. On the contrary, Starlink is enrolling even more customers on a new “best-effort” tier. This is meant to shorten the waiting time to get the service in the U.S. Despite having a worse connection than the regular customers (slower internet speeds), they will pay the same price ($110).
Unlike Residential, Best Effort users can pause service until a regular connection becomes available if they are not satisfied. Canceling the service would lose their place in line for Residential service. Starlink Best Effort customers will not have access to online gaming, video calling, and streaming in 4K. The internet speed is not guaranteed and depends on the network loading at a particular time.
UPDATE: Lots of Starlink users are DMing me and it looks like SpaceX is reducing Starlink pricing in many countries around the world. pic.twitter.com/iEYZLKyC9f
— Sawyer Merritt ???????? (@SawyerMerritt) August 25, 2022
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