Starlink Ups Internet Prices In Ukraine Amid Mobile Network Issues

As mobile networks in Ukraine falter due to an ongoing assault on its electricity grid, Starlink, which has been providing internet to the country at a loss for months, has decided to hike up prices of its satellite devices and service. 

According to the Financial Times, the brand’s terminals will now be priced at US$700 for new Ukrainian customers, almost double its initial price of US$385 earlier this year. 

The cost of its monthly internet subscription service remains in limbo, fluctuating from US$100 to US$60 in August for the nation’s Independence Day but rising to US$75 this month. 

For comparison, a Starlink dish retails at US$599 for customers in the United States, while the subscription fee will set you back US$110 each month. 

In addition, Starlink prices have increased in the neighboring country of Poland, which the publication noted was where many Ukrainian citizens sourced the company’s services to avoid domestic delivery issues. 

Unfortunately, as PC Mag notes, this price increase is likely to affect local residents and humanitarian groups that depend on Starlink dishes for internet access, especially in areas that don’t get service at all. 

“I just received a message today that Starlink hardware cost and monthly fee going up… Not cool, but we will find the cost-effective solution!” tweets Dimko Zhluktenko, founder of a charity that provides the dishes to the Ukrainian military. 

While Musk has claimed the project was losing US$20 million a month to aid Ukraine, CNN reported in October that a SpaceX letter to the Pentagon revealed a majority of the terminals sent had received full or partial funding from governments.

The figures showed 85% of the 20,000 terminals first sent to the country were paid, or partially subsidized, by the United States, Poland, or other governments, which contributed to 30% of the monthly internet service. 

It appears negotiations are still ongoing between Musk and the US Department of Defense over funding requests, though many are keeping their fingers crossed that an agreement can soon be reached. 

“With the recent bombing of critical civilian infrastructure, [the] military needs the internet connection even more—because there is no cellular even in the places where [there] has been some,” said Zhluktenko. 

Head over to Zhluktenko’s Twitter page and website for more updates and reports on the developing situation. 

[via Financial Times and PC Mag, cover image via Oleksii Kononenko | Dreamstime.com]