SpaceX’s Starlink internet has included unlimited bandwidth since launch, and while the service will technically continue to provide that to customers, users who use more than 1 TB of data in a single month will now be capped once they reach that threshold.
Starlink sent an email to users in the US and Canada on Friday outlining the new so-called “Fair Use” policy, which describes how private users start each month with “Priority Access” and then continue to get coverage with “Basic.” Access” for the remainder of the monthly billing period if they exceed that 1TB threshold.
Basic Access means they will be “depriority” in terms of usage, meaning they will get slower speeds than Priority Access customers when the network is heavily used. Starlink also notes that data consumed between off-peak hours, especially between 11pm and 7am, will not count towards that 1TB monthly Priority bucket.
The company is also introducing data usage monitoring through user account pages so that people can track how close they are to the soft cap.
External Network Analysis Company Ookla noted that Starlink’s media speeds have declined over the past year in every country where it’s currently available. Ookla cites user growth and the main reason behind the overall decline. Starlink is clearly looking to improve the situation by limiting large users, who it claims represent less than 10% of its current subscriber base.