SpaceX cuts Starlink residential plan price to $39/month ahead of IPO

Starlink has cut the starting price of its Residential plan to just $39/month for the basic tier that offers up to 100 Mbps download speeds.

This is a buck less than the lowest-ever Starlink plan price, and the deal will be valid for the first six months of the Residential plan subscription. The Starlink satellite Internet plan discount promo will run until March 31 and will be applied only to one new line of service.

"Customers who change their plan, cancel their service, or are suspended will lose their promotional pricing," cautions Starlink and says that the new $39/month plan price is now available in select regions throughout the US.

Starlink plan price deals

• 100 Mbps: $39/month (down from $50)
• 200 Mpbs: $69/month (down from $80)
• Max: $109/month (down from $120)

In most of the areas where the new plan prices are available, Starlink is also giving away the Residential Kit that is otherwise $349 on Amazon for free in the form of a $0/month rental. While the dish still has to be returned if the user cancels their promo service, this removes the upfront costs to become a Starlink customer and, at just $39/month, starts to rival terrestrial broadband providers.

Elon Musk recently dismissed the notion that SpaceX is cutting Starlink hardware and plan prices ahead of its IPO as a reaction to Amazon's upcoming Kuiper constellation expansions and said that he simply wants to make satellite Internet more affordable to people who wouldn't have the means for it otherwise.

That, and the fact that SpaceX is launching satellites at a rapid pace, with more than 9,700 already in orbit, indicates that Kuiper might not be the reason for the Starlink deal bonanza, indeed. Ahead of its IPO, SpaceX will need as many Starlink service subscribers as it can show to its underwriters, since Starlink is now the main business that finances SpaceX.

At just $39/month with no upfront equipment costs, Starlink now rivals local Internet providers, and the deal seems to coincide with a drastic expansion of its carrying capacity, too, as SpaceX has to find customers for all the new satellites it is launching at breakneck pace. It recently rebranded its direct-to-cell service available to carriers like T-Mobile and called it Starlink Mobile, hinting that it has plans to become a standalone 5G network provider, just with cell phone towers that are located in space and cover the globe, including its polar regions.