SpaceX’s Starlink is significantly cutting the price of its newest satellite dish in two ways, according to an article posted by PCMag on June 11.
The first move is an across-the-board reduction in price from $599 to $499. The company also is offering a $200 “regional” reduction for new subscribers in 27 states. This will bring the cost for these users down to $299, according to the report.
Last November, the company began to selectively offer the newest dish. Known as V4, it was designed for easy installation by customers.
PCMag found the new Starlink dish price on the starlink.com webiste. Best Buy and Home Depot also are offering the $100 price cut, according to the PCMag article. The author noted that it is unclear if the new pricing is temporary or permanent.
Previously, Starlink had tried to increase sales by reducing the cost for the dish to $349 and selling refurbished units for $399, the article mentioned. Neither program is active.
The states that qualify for the lower regional pricing are Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Florida, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, California and Hawaii.
Equipment cost is a significant issue for Starlink. In August 2022, the FCC rejected the company’s long form application to receive nearly $1 billion in support through the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, even though the company had a winning bid in the RDOF reverse auction. The cost of the customer equipment was one of the reasons cited for the rejection.
The decision was not unanimous. Later that month, FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr provided four of his own reasons why the commission’s reasons for the rejection “do not withstand even casual scrutiny.”
