Starlink answered the door pre-orders for its service in February for a $ 99 down payment, but it doesn’t seem like the company plans to offer some sort of tiered plan to people who were hoping for some options.
SpaceX P.Resident Gwynne Shotwell, who spoke at a Satellite 2021 LEO Digital Forum panel Tuesday on Tuesday, said she does not “think we are going to charge consumers tiered” for Starlink’s satellite Internet service, per CNBCShotwell added that the company “would try to keep it as simple and transparent as possible, so at this point there are no plans to opt for the consumer.”
That can be a make-or-break for potential subscribers who were hoping for a lowered – or even more premium for that matter – version of the service than the one currently on offer. Its $ 99 refundable offer a deposit which rolled out in February will not cover the total cost for the service.
The Starlink installation kit costs $ 499 and includes a power supply, a wifi router and a mountable satellite dish. Shipping and handling will add at least $ 50 to that price. And then there is the service itself, which costs $ 99 per month. That can make the service less accessible for example low-income households in rural areas. And those customers maybe better served by Starlink’s satellite service would then be possible with 5G.
But that’s who Shotwell said Starlink is trying to serve, noting that the company “will be able to serve every rural household in the United States,” CNBC said, or an estimated 60 million people.
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If so, it looks like Starlink needs to seriously re-evaluate costs up front.