D.C. Memo: Starlink to World – How Does Free Equipment Sound?

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Starlink: Elon Musk just came up with a Zero-Rating plan that Starlink critics just might love. For consumers, subscribing to Starlink has had a big pain point: $349.00 in upfront equipment costs. On Monday, Starlink said it was rolling out a promotional plan in limited areas in the U.S. and around the world that wipes out the equipment cost. “$0 for the Standard Kit with 12-month residential service plan commitment, now available in select markets,” Starlink said on X feed Monday. “Reliable high-speed Internet in even the most rural and remote locations.” Elon Musk’s Low Earth orbit satellite Internet access service is holding the service monthly fee at current levels – $80 for residential lite and $120 for standard residential. “Starlink is trying out a service plan commitment in exchange for $0 down in some markets. We’ll see how it goes,” Musk said on his X feed Monday night. In the U.S., big areas in the Midwest and Southeast won’t have access to the $0 plan, while large swaths of Big Sky country and parts of New England will. (See map below). Starlink posted terms and conditions. “The customer has a 30-day trial with a full refund period. After the 30-day trial, the service commitment ends 12 months after the customer's activation date,” Starlink said. The company said an unspecified change fee would apply if a customer: changed service address; canceled service; failed to timely pay a bill; attempted to transfer the kit to another user; or canceled service during the 30-day trial and did not return the free kit. A reason FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel refused to award about $885 million in Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) subsidies in late 2023 to Starlink was equipment costs. “Starlink’s proposal would have required every subscriber to purchase a $600 dish to simply start to receive the service. No other services supported by the program included such high start-up costs on rural consumers,” Rosenworcel said in a letter to a group of House Republicans on Feb. 6, 2024.