Starlink is looking to become a little more competitive in the lower-cost Internet space. The company is doing this by offering a lower-cost alternative to its $120 per month Residential plan. This new plan — dubbed Residential Lite — brings the cost down to $80 per month but also includes slower speeds and some other compromises.
According to Starlink's FAQ, the Residential Lite plan offers a range of 50 to 100 Mbps with no data caps or speed caps. The service is rolling out to 15 US states, including Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Minnesota, Iowa, North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Wyoming, and New Mexico. Most parts of Montana, Utah, and Nevada are also getting service.
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There are some caveats to the less expensive plan. It's less than half of the speed of Starlnk's Residential plan, which promises speeds of 150 to 250 Mbps. In addition, Starlink refers to these plans as getting deprioritized data, which may result in lower speeds during peak hours.
"This service plan will be deprioritized compared to Residential service during peak hours," Starlink says. "This means speeds may be slower for Residential Lite service relative to Residential service when our network has the most users online."
Peak hours are generally considered to be any time between 6-11 p.m. on weekdays. That's right around when everyone gets done with work or school and sits down to eat dinner, play some video games, or watch some Netflix before bed. Starlink says that their network is a "finite resource" until the company can launch more satellites. Thus, Residential Lite users may see slow Internet if enough people are online.
The big picture for low-income households
The FCC ended its Affordable Connectivity Program last year, citing a lack of funding. Before the shutdown, the government was subsidizing low-income households anywhere from $30 to $75 per month to assist them in getting Internet in their homes.
The end of the program saw an estimated 23 million households lose their Internet connection. Congress hasn't passed a similar bill yet, but other programs exist to assist.
At $80 per month, Starlink's Residential Lite plan competes with much faster broadband plans from major ISP providers. For example, I pay $80 per month to Spectrum for 600 Mbps of Internet. For around the same price, Cox offers 250 Mbps. Xfinity does 200 Mbps for around $45 per month.
People looking for more affordable Internet have plenty of other options to choose from. But this less expensive - albeit slower - option from Starlink could appeal to those in rural America without accesss to many options.
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