Musk’s Starlink provides more affordable broadband than BT following UK price reductions 

Elon Musk’s Starlink is currently providing services at lower prices than those of BT following the introduction of price reductions in the UK market. 

The satellite broadband business of the billionaire has introduced a high-speed internet of only £35 per month in certain locations, which is less than its entry-level price of £55.

That is as opposed to £40 in a comparable package by BT and £36 by Virgin Media O2 (VMO2). Starlink has a new discounted package that is cheaper than BT, even when the £84 installation fees are added to the price over a 24-month contract.

The package comes with a 100 Mbps download speed, which is what is known as an ultrafast service, which is usually enabled in households that are streaming, playing games or making video calls between multiple devices simultaneously.

It is an indication of the increasing expansion of Starlink into the broadband sector in Britain, which will likely lead to an increase in people abandoning the flagship brands (BT).

An analyst at New Street research James Ratzer, said: “This serves as a warning that we think Starlink is likely to be an incremental player in the UK broadband market, and this is likely to put further pressure on BT through Openreach line losses – and to a lesser extent on VMO2.”

Openreach is completely owned by BT. It constructs and supports the physical network upon which broadband suppliers such as BT deliver their service.
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Price war will also put increased pressure on BT since it will be under scrutiny regarding its digital landline switchover.

The old monopoly has been cited to have bungled the rollout as some of the old and vulnerable individuals plunged without any connectivity during the Christmas holidays. This would expose the business to a possible Ofcom probe should there be a result of the problems being prevalent.

Starlink has around 9500 satellites in low-earth orbit and broadcasts internet connections back to the earth. Coverage to homes in the most far-flung rural locations can be offered by the service, as well as used as a possible solution to signal black spots on railways. 

Although the largest provider of satellite broadband in the UK is Starlink, its number of customers has so far been restrained by its high price. Besides acquiring the likes of BT, there are indications that the company is on a headlong spurt of discounting as Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, plans to roll out a competitor service referenced as Amazon Leo in the coming months. 

The newest price reductions are only two months after Starlink lowered its standard monthly fee, which used to be £75 to £55. The rise in the demand for satellite broadband and the rise in popularity of a mobile substitute dubbed Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) is costing BT and other traditional network operators.