Starlink Won’t Impose High-Speed Data Caps After All

In a shift from its initial plan, Starlink will not enforce data caps for its customers. The company originally planned to impose a monthly data cap in the US and Canada at 1TB last December, but postponed the move until April. Now Starlink parent SpaceX has seemingly reversed course for Starlink users. 

The news was earlier reported by PC Mag, which noted an update to the FAQ section on Starlink’s website. Customers with a Standard plan or a Mobile subscription now have unlimited data, and the satellite internet service offers a new, Priority option designed for governments, businesses and superusers. 

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The Priority Data plan is available at 1TB, 2TB or 6TB with a price range of $250 to $1,500 per month. Starlink outlines that the new subscription is faster and trumps the Standard and Mobile plans when it comes to network usage and speed. But once the monthly data allowance is reached, Priority users will receive unlimited data on the Standard tier. The subscription plans, which also include a new Mobile Priority version, are laid out here.

Starlink also changed its “fair use” rules and removed references to the fee charged for users who exceed their monthly data caps. However, customers with the Standard or basic Mobile data plans will experience slower speeds — aka throttling — during periods of high network traffic. The only workaround for that is to upgrade to a Priority plan. And Priority users can pay extra for additional data if they run out of data allotted for their subscription. 

Starlink didn’t immediately respond to CNET’s request for comment.