The new price list Starlink is enough to make one cringe. Only three months after having reorganized its offers by introducing debit caps in return for more attractive prices, Elon Musk’s company is making an about-face. The increase applies without distinction to all, new and old customers, and is part of a global movement since similar increases have been observed in the United States and Germany, where they are even more marked. For many households located in white areas, this news remains a difficult pill to swallow.
What are the new prices and who is affected?
The increase is generalized and affects all general public offers. Concretely, the entry-level residential subscription at 100 Mbit/s goes from €29 to €35 per month. The intermediate 200 Mbit/s package increases from €39 to €45 per month. Finally, the premium “Max” offer, which promises up to 400 Mb/s, sees its price increase from €59 to €65 per month. This €6 increase therefore applies to the entire residential range in France.
Nomadic offers, known as “Roaming”, are not spared, with an average increase of €5 to €6 depending on the formula. But the most important progression concerns “sleep mode”, an option allowing you to suspend the service while keeping the line active. Its price literally doublegoing from €5 to €10 per month. No one is therefore exempt from this price revision, which will be applied from June for most current customers.
How does Starlink justify this price about-face?
In an email addressed to its subscribers, the company justifies this decision by the need to continue investments and improvements to the service in the face of “ global operational costs which continue to increase “. A classic formula that struggles to convince part of its community, particularly on social networks. This explanation is all the more difficult to understand since the company had lowered its prices in March, creating a real yo-yo effect on its price list.
In reality, this strategy seems mainly aimed at increase profitability from the SpaceX subsidiary. With more than 10 million active subscribers worldwide announced in February, Starlink is taking advantage of its position as undisputed leader in the satellite Internet market to tighten the financial screws. Some analysts see it as a maneuver to prepare for a potential and highly anticipated IPO of its parent company, SpaceX.
Is this increase in line with the performance of the service?
The paradox of this announcement is that it comes in a context of strong improvement in performance. In France, the figures speak for themselves: the average download speed reached 125 Mbit/s, i.e. spectacular jump of 37% in just one year. Users therefore benefit from an objectively faster and more reliable service, but now have to pay more to access it. The window of “more flow for less cost” seems to be closing.
For the thousands of French households deprived of proper access to fiber or even 4G, Starlink often remains the only viable option for obtaining a very high speed connection. The company is in position quasi unique on this segment. However, this monopoly situation could evolve in the medium term with the announced arrival of serious competitors, notably the project Leo d’Amazonwhich promises to shake up the market.
