Starlink's upcoming Premium tier is SO MUCH more expensive than NBN

Alex Choros - Managing Editor + Group Telco Editor

Last updated 03 February 2022

Grimes' ex-boyfriend has announced an expensive new speed tier for his space internet venture, Starlink. Dubbed Starlink Premium, the service promises download speeds of between 150Mbps and 500Mbps, up from the 100Mbps to 200Mbps users can expect on the standard tier.

Upload speeds get a more modest improvement, and can reach as high as 40Mbps, up a max of 20Mbps. Latency is still the same, however, with Starlink suggesting customers will get a ping of between 20ms and 40ms. Starlink Premium should also perform better in extreme weather conditions.

The big catch is price. Australian pricing has yet to be announced, but based on conversions, you're looking at about $3,500 in setup fees and a monthly bill of $700. For comparison, a standard Starlink plan will set you back $139 per month locally, with $709 once off in hardware fees and $100 in shipping and handling. The vast majority of NBN plans come in at under $100 per month, but some Sky Muster Satellite NBN plans come close to $200 per month.

Of course, Starlink Premium isn’t meant for average users. Instead, the space telco is more so pitching the plans toward business users, such as small offices and storefronts.

Starlink Premium plans will go live from the second quarter of the year, but it's unclear if Australia will be supported initially. Addresses we tested on the Starlink site came back with a "Starlink Premium is not available in your area yet" message. The Starlink Premium site does however say the service will be available globally, it may just be a question of when.

Alex Choros

Managing Editor + Group Telco Editor | X | Instagram | Threads | LinkedIn

Alex Choros is the Managing Editor of WhistleOut Australia and an award-winning journalist. He's been writing about consumer technology for over a decade and is an expert on the Australian telco sector, to the point where he knows far too many phone and internet plans by heart. In addition to leading the WhistleOut editorial team, Alex is responsible for ruining the office Sonos with his troubled taste in music.

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