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SpaceX’s Starlink service, which offers ultrafast broadband speeds via a mega constellation of satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), has this week refreshed their range of plans for business customers and made them more affordable for those with lower data usage requirements. But there’s a nasty catch for some customers in the form of a 1Mbps speed cap.
At present Starlink has over 7,100 satellites in Low Earth Orbit (c.3,300 are v2 Mini / GEN 2A) – mostly at altitudes of c.500-600km – and they’re in the process of adding thousands more by the end of 2027. Residential customers in the UK typically pay from £75 a month for a 30-day term, plus £299 for hardware on the ‘Standard’ unlimited data plan (inc. £19 postage), which promises latency times of 25-60ms, downloads of 25-100Mbps and uploads of 5-10Mbps.
NOTE: By the end of 2024 Starlink’s global network had 4.6 million customers (up from 2.3m in 2023) and 87,000 of those were in the UK (up from 42,000 in 2023) – mostly in rural areas.
However, Starlink also offers a range of plans for business customers too, which have just been refreshed (credits to PC Mag) and reorganised around whether you want to take a “local” or “global” priority service. On the surface, there’s now a much cheaper entry-level tier for business users with only basic needs (i.e. £39 +vat per month for 50GB of data), which is good. But those who require 1TB (TeraByte) of data or more will find it more expensive.
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The following comparison shows the difference, but pay close attention to the small print, if you can.
Starlink’s Old Business Plans
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Starlink’s New Business Plans
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The casual observer could easily be forgiven for missing the small grey print on the new plans, where it states: “Unlimited Data at up to 1Mbps download and 0.5Mbps upload speeds“. Put another way, if you use beyond the package’s “priority” allowance (e.g. 50GB or 2TB) and don’t top-up with extra data, such as by adding another 50GB for +£15 per month or 500GB for +£75, then your download speeds will be capped to just 1Mbps (0.5Mbps upload). For the avoidance of doubt, this is what the T&C’s say:
Top-Up Data.
➤ Top-Up Data Opt-In. For Priority Plans, if you exhaust the Data Block(s) purchased for a given monthly billing cycle, you can, at any time during a given monthly billing cycle, elect (opt-in) to be assigned and charged a fixed amount of “top-up” Priority data (“Top-Up Data”). Once the initial Top-Up Data is exhausted, additional Top-Up Data will be automatically assigned. Top-Up Data charges will be reflected on the invoice for the following monthly billing cycle. Unused Top-Up Data does not rollover to the next monthly billing cycle. You can track your Top-Up Data usage at any time via the Starlink App or via your Starlink account. Once you opt-in, you will be automatically billed for Top-Up Data used until you opt-out, including in following monthly billing cycles. You may opt-out of purchasing additional Top-Up Data at any time via your account in the Starlink Customer Portal or via the Starlink App. Changes to the Top-Up Data Setting mid-month will take effect immediately. Additional details can be found in the Starlink FAQs and Starlink Fair Use Policy.
➤ Top-Up Data Opt-Out. If you purchase a Priority Plan, the default setting is you will be opted-out of being assigned and charged Top-Up Data. You may either (i) opt-in to Top-Up Data as described in Section 5.2(a)(i) above, or (ii) manually purchase additional Top-Up Data as needed once your Data Block(s) is exhausted. If you exhaust your Data Block(s) purchased for a given monthly billing cycle and you do neither (i) nor (ii), your Service will be limited to substantially slower speeds (e.g., up to 1Mbps download and 0.5Mbps upload speeds) for the remainder of the month. If you consume your Data Block(s) in a given month and are opted-in for Top-Up Data, you will automatically be assigned and charged Top-Up Data to cover the remaining data consumed that month. See Section 2.4(b) and the Fair Use Policy for payment details on opting in and out of Top-Up Data.
Previously, if users used up their data allowance and didn’t top-up with more, then they could still expect usable broadband speeds, albeit much slower. The problem with capping a service to 1Mbps is that the modern internet really doesn’t play well with connection speeds that slow, including many regular websites.
Some web browsers even allow you to simulate the impact of such slow speeds, and the experience is horrible. Even Ofcom recommends 10Mbps as a minimum under their Universal Service Obligation (USO) and that’s likely to be raised in the next review, which is due imminently.
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Not to mention that even many older copper ADSL broadband lines in remote rural areas can deliver better than 1Mbps. Likewise, 4G mobile in rural areas will often be a lot faster, assuming you’re within range of those. Suffice to say that we think Starlink should have set a faster minimum, although the goal here is clearly to entice business users to spend more on top-ups or bigger plans.