Ookla’s speed test report from for the first quarter of 2025 showed some significant gains in terms of median speeds, but also some deficiencies for users of the Starlink network.
Ookla reported that Starlink customers had median download speeds of 104.71 Mbps in the Q1 2025, nearly double the 53.95 Mbps speed since 3Q 2022. Upload speeds nearly doubled as well, increasing from 7.50 Mbps in the third quarter of 2022 and to 14.84 Mbps in the first quarter of 2025.
However, only 17.4% of U.S. Starlink Speedtest users nationwide were able to achieve broadband speeds that meet the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC’s) minimum requirement for broadband of 100 Mbps download speeds and 20 Mbps upload speed, which the Ookla report attributed primarily due to low upload speeds.
According to the report, recent changes to the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program will benefit Starlink and its customers:
- LEO satellite systems like Starlink are in line to get BEAD funding now that the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) adopted a technology-neutral stance instead of prioritizing fiber deployments.
- Some states such as Maine have launched state-funded programs that subsidize Starlink for some rural addresses and more are likely to follow.
- The Texas Broadband Development Office announced in January 2025 that it is developing a grant program to support LEO satellite broadband service in rural areas.
The new BEAD rules establish new scoring criteria that states must follow in selecting funding recipients and direct states to select the lowest-cost applicants (with a few caveats).
The previous three-tier system of priority, reliable, and extremely high-cost technologies is eliminated. Instead, any technology is equally eligible if it meets the new definition of a “priority broadband project.”
That definition includes projects that provide broadband service at 100/20 Mbps speeds, have a latency less than or equal to 100 milliseconds and “can easily scale speeds over time to meet the evolving connectivity needs of households and businesses and support the deployment of 5G, successor wireless technologies and other advanced services.”
The Ookla report suggests Starlink is making gains but still has a way to go before it can meet the new BEAD requirements reliably.
