Starlink Backtracks on Poland Roam Restriction
Starlink seems to have rescinded a restriction on the Roam plan for customers in Poland after a government minister complained to CEO Elon Musk, accusing his company of discrimination.
On Thursday, we spotted Starlink.com revising a support page article that previously mentioned a restriction on the Roam tier, which allows customers to use the satellite internet service outside their home country. On the same day, a Deputy Prime Minister of Poland Krzysztof Gawkowski also announced that SpaceX had backtracked, tweeting : "Polish customers will not be subject to any new restrictions."
What the page used to say.
Late last month, Starlink added an unusual rule that effectively blocked Polish customers from enjoying the same Roam travel benefits available across other European markets.
"Poland is not included in the Europe region above. Accounts registered in Poland are treated as Poland-only for home-country use," the support page originally said. "If your account is registered in Poland, use in other European countries is treated as international travel under your plan."
Now the support page appears to have deleted the Poland-related sections and added Poland to the dozens of European countries "grouped as one region for Roam travel," including the UK, France, and Germany. The polish version has been changed too.
What the page says now.
SpaceX didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. But the change was made a day after Poland's Deputy Prime Minister Radosław Sikorski tweeted at Musk, writing, "stop discriminating Polish users of Starlink or we might re-think paying you $50 million p.a. for your services," referring to how Poland spends millions per year to fund the access in Ukraine, where Starlink has been crucial to the war effort against Russia.
Sikorski's tweet has since received over 1 million views and made news headlines.
If the restriction had been maintained, then a Polish customer on the Starlink Roam Unlimited plan could only use the satellite internet service outside their home country for up to 30 days, including in neighboring European countries. Polish subscribers on the cheaper Roam 100GB would also have to upgrade to Roam Unlimited to use it outside the country. On top of this, affected users in the country would need to submit their passports and a live portrait for international use.
That's a big difference from other European users on the Roam plan; they can keep using Starlink while visiting over 30 neighboring European countries and territories since they've all been classified as a "grouped region."
How the home region works.
In response to SpaceX removing the restriction, Gawkowski tweeted: "Poles using Starlink must be treated on equal terms with users in other European countries."
Although SpaceX never explained why the restriction targeted Poland, there's been speculation that it represents a company effort to prevent consumer Starlink hardware from being used for military purposes in the Russo-Ukrainian war. Modifying Starlink equipment for " military end-uses ," such as fitting it on a drone, technically falls under US export controls.
Tim Belfall, director at UK-based Starlink installer Westend WiFi, noted that "brokers based in Poland" have asked him about procuring tens of thousands of portable Starlink Mini dishes without a subscription. "I immediately shut down these requests as it's plainly obvious the Starlink terminals are intended for military use in the Ukraine-Russia conflict," he wrote on LinkedIn.
Editor's note: This story has been updated to include the tweet from Krzysztof Gawkowski.
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