Starlink’s Congestion Fee More than Doubles in Several Cities

Starlink has become available in multiple regions where it was previously sold out, but potential customers will have to pay a premium to get the service after waiting several months. It’s a good news, bad news situation for residents in the Sacramento, San Diego, Phoenix, and Central Florida areas who have been waiting to get Starlink. 

The satellite internet giant already charges a one-time $100 congestion fee in areas that are nearly at capacity, including Central Texas and the Bay Area. However, the charge is more than double, at $250, for buyers in those regions that were recently sold out. Several of these areas have been sold out since November of last year. 

One Reddit user from Sacramento lamented the surprise charge. “Thought it was $100.00 congestion charge, not $250.00! Sacramento area is pricey, ouch! Back to the waitlist for me,” the user posted.

When buying a Standard Starlink dish for residential service, the total comes to $600, not including tax and the first month of service. 

Starlink has used the congestion fee to balance its network capacity in given areas. Regions that are over or nearly to capacity are hit with a fee or marked as sold out. Buyers in sold-out zones could put a $100 deposit down to get on a waitlist. Starlink is still marked as sold out in regions in Washington, Oregon, North Carolina, and Southern Florida.

Meanwhile, Starlink has offered sizable discounts to buyers in regions with excess capacity, including selling its Standard dish for $149 through its regional savings program. 

Regions become overcapacity due to the high concentration of customers. And while Starlink has thousands of satellites in low-Earth orbit, they can only service a limited number of user terminals at a time, resulting in a downgrade in performance. Besides instituting fees and discounts, Starlink’s solution to congestion is to launch more of its satellites and continue upgrading its technology to handle more users on its network.