SpaceX’s Starlink internet service will continue to provide unlimited bandwidth to customers, but users who exceed 1TB of data used in a single month will now be throttled once they reach that threshold.
Starlink announced the new “Fair Use” policy for residential users in the United States and Canada. Under the new policy, users will have “Priority Access” to the service for the first 1TB of data usage each month. After that, they will continue to have “Basic Access” to the service for the remainder of the month.
SpaceX notes that the new policy is designed to ensure that all customers have a fair chance to use the service, even during peak usage periods. Starlink also notes that data used between off-peak times, specifically between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m., won’t be counted toward that 1TB monthly Priority bucket.
SpaceX also introducing data use monitoring via user account pages so people can track how close they are to the soft cap.
Based on this new development, a third-party network analytics firm Ookla reported that Starlink’s media speeds have decreased in every country where it is available during the past year. Ookla mentions user growth as the primary reason behind the overall decline. Starlink is aiming to improve the situation by limiting high-volume users, which it says represents less than 10% of its current subscriber base.
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Opinion:
We think this is a great move by SpaceX. It will help to ensure that all customers have a fair chance to use the service, even during peak usage periods. We also think that data use monitoring is a great idea so that people can track their usage and make sure they don’t go over the limit.
However, Starlink’s media overall decline in media speeds is something to keep an eye on because this might impact customers’ experience with the service. Nevertheless, only time will tell how this new policy will affect the company and its users.
News Source: https://techcrunch.com/2022/11/04/starlink-adds-a-1tb-monthly-soft-cap-for-residential-users/
