SpaceX is reportedly expanding its Starlink satellite internet service beta test and offering services starting at $99. The company, according to CNBC, sent out emails to people who expressed an interest in signing up for satellite internet service.
The company, co-founded by billionaire Elon Musk, is calling its beta test “Better Than Nothing Beta”, and will charge customers an upfront amount of $499 for the Starlink Kit.
Starlink satellite internet service is SpaceX’s plan to build an interconnected Internet network with nearly 12,000 satellites to deliver high-speed internet anywhere on the planet.
The report cites multiple screenshots of an email with the title “Better Than Nothing Beta” that were sent to people who had shown interest in signing up for the service.
“As you can tell from the title, we are trying to lower your initial expectations. Expect to see data speeds vary from 50Mb/s to 150Mb/s and latency from 20ms to 40ms over the next several months as we enhance the Starlink system. There will also be brief periods of no connectivity at all,” the email read.
SpaceX will charge $99 per month for the service and an additional $499 for the Starlink Kit. This kit includes a user terminal to connect to the satellites, a mounting tripod and a Wi-Fi router. There is also a Starlink app listed on the Google Play Store and Apple App Store.
The company in September had confirmed that it has been testing Starlink’s latency and download speeds. It will take some time for the company to roll out its service at full potential. However, the new beta test update hints the rollout to select users.
