SpaceX’s Starlink is moving to dynamic pricing for its Residential plans in select areas, so what you pay can rise or fall depending on local network capacity and demand. PCMag reports that customers, mostly in the Midwest so far, started getting emails about it on October 29.
What the email says
According to the message quoted by PCMag, Starlink prices “dynamically based on supply of capacity and demand from customers.” SpaceX says it will review prices roughly quarterly, that changes may come more often than before, and that prices can go down as new V3 satellites add capacity.
Examples so far
- A Missouri customer’s Residential 100 Mbps plan rises from $50 to $60.50 a month, effective on or after November 30.
- Another Missouri user reported Residential Max rising from $130 to $156 a month. On Starlink.com, Rolla, Missouri shows Max at $156 and Warsaw, Missouri at $143.
- Kansas City, Missouri is cheaper: $49.50 for 100 Mbps, $76.50 for 200 Mbps and $117 for Max.
- Marysville, Kansas is lower still at $44, $68 and $104.
PCMag says code on Starlink’s site suggests the swings are currently capped at 20% up or down, and a UK installer reports seeing price cuts there too.
Why it matters
Satellite analyst Tim Farrar told followers that cutting prices where Starlink competes with ground-based internet and raising them where it doesn’t should push average revenue per user up. PCMag notes Starlink’s ARPU was about $69 a month in Q3, down from $83 a year earlier, and that this follows a May increase on Residential, Roam and Standby Mode fees. Starlink did an earlier version of this in 2023 with a $10 surcharge in congested areas.
Source: PCMag: Starlink Tests Dynamic Pricing
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