ELON Musk’s satellite internet service is hiking some prices from next month.
Starlink is an alternative to traditional broadband, beaming connections via SpaceX satellites instead.
It’s proven especially useful for remote areas left in the slow lane for on-the-ground broadband upgrades.
Starlink is among the biggest around with more than 6,000 satellites currently in Low Earth Orbit – and plans to add more in future.
But the service, owned by Elon Musk, 53, doesn’t come cheap.
And from October it’ll be even more expensive on one tier.
Subscribers have shared their outrage online as the Roam Unlimited plan will cost £96 per month from October 10.
Roam is aimed at those on the move with mini portable kit that fits into a backpack.
There’s a 50GB capped plan for infrequent travellers, which is staying at £50 per month.
But those on Roam Unlimited, aimed at more regular users in camper vans or working on the go, will see their monthly bill go up £11 from the current cost, £85.
Starlink is throwing in some extra features in an apparent attempt to soften the blow.
In an email to affected users, the firm said customers would receive in-motion use, international coverage and coastal coverage.
But that doesn’t seem to have pleased people.
“I was hoping the price would be going down, not up!” one annoyed subscriber wrote on Facebook.
“Very dissapointing as I won’t use any of those new features.”
Another commented: “Yea not happy with it, I have zero use for the three alleged “benefits” so ill have same service for huge increase!”
A third person added: “I was such an advocate for Starlink on narrowboats, but this is a step too far for me.
“I’m guessing there’ll be quite a few cancellations today & over the next few weeks.”
Others have said they will switch to Amazon‘s Project Kuiper once it’s up and running.
Project Kuiper is still far behind Starlink, with only two prototype satellites currently in the sky.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, 60, moved a step closer to launching his rival service last week, with preliminary approval from regulators to operate in the UK.
“Our preliminary view is that we will grant an NGSO [non-geostationary orbit] network licence to Kuiper, having considered the technical coexistence and competition impacts of its NGSO system on existing and future NGSO systems and other spectrum services operating in the same frequencies,” Ofcom said.
While it’s a big step forward Amazon isn’t cleared to go just yet.
Ofcom is now seeking feedback as part of a consultation that will run until October 4.
Analysis by Jamie Harris, Assistant Technology and Science Editor
Many had hoped Starlink would get cheaper, not more expensive, as it gained popularity.
As today’s dreaded email to customers has shown, price cuts aren’t on the cards anytime soon.
Of course, building, launching and maintaining satellites is no cheap feat.
Starlink now has three million customers across nearly 100 countries and territories.
But crucially, it has no big rival at the moment.
Whether it be Bezos, OneWeb or someone else, what consumers really need is a competitor for Starlink to really bring prices down.
