Starlink touts $9 a month 5GB data cap plan to Australian users — marketed as a 'Backup' option

Starlink just launched an AU$15 (about US$9) monthly plan in Australia for existing users. This is a massive discount from the AU$139 (about US$86) monthly fee that users from the Land Down Under pay, but it comes with a stingy 5GB data cap. If you need more data, you could purchase Roam data at AU$3 (about US$1.86) per GB, which allows you to use your Starlink practically anywhere. According to PCMag, this news comes just days after the company started offering a US$50 monthly plan that comes with 50GB of Roam data.

Unfortunately, this plan isn’t available to new users, so you either must have an existing account or have previously subscribed to Starlink to take advantage. Starlink’s email to its customers requires you to log into your Starlink account and choose the “Backup” plan option under “Activate Service” for a preexisting Starlink dish. So, you won’t see this option listed under Starlink’s Service Plans when you’re applying for a new line.

Although affordable, many commenters have criticized the 5GB limit as too low, with some saying that almost all phone plans come with that amount of data, or more. Furthermore, the add-on rate for Roam data is just as expensive compared to other data plans. The average person might use, say, 30GB a month, which means if you’re a family of four, you’ll pay AU$360 (about US$225) for 120GB of data. But if you use a lot of data (like streaming a lot of 4K videos), then you’ll spend a lot more.

However, others say that this isn’t for the average user — instead, it’s only supposed to serve as a backup for areas that only have one or two wired service providers and no phone service at all. So, in case you lose internet connection for a short while, you could remain online. And if the outage lasts longer than expected, you could purchase additional data as needed.

Given that Starlink plans aren’t under contract, users could just purchase the needed hardware and then sign up for the service when they need to. This means there are potentially thousands (if not millions) of Starlink hardware in the wild gathering dust and not giving the company cash flow. By enticing users who do not have reliable backup internet to purchase a cheap monthly subscription, the company could earn money from these Starlink dishes that are otherwise unused.