Starlink Reduces Hefty $1,500 Demand Surcharge in Alaska

Starlink has quietly made some progress in reducing its notorious "demand surcharge" for new sign-ups to the satellite internet service.

Earlier this year, the one-time fee hit $1,500 in parts of Alaska , including Anchorage, Fairbanks, Wasilla, and Kasilof. But on Monday, we noticed it had been reduced to $500 on Starlink.com, which is a bit more reasonable, although still high.

We checked a dozen cities across the state, so it's possible the $1,500 rate applies elsewhere in Alaska. Nevertheless, the lower fee was enough to cause one customer in a Starlink Alaska Facebook group to immediately order. 

For some consumers in Alaska, it's been a long wait. The exorbitant demand surcharge has been a consistent barrier for potential customers in the state, where Starlink's popularity stems from its ability to deliver high-speed broadband to remote and rural areas. 

Starting in 2024, Starlink began imposing the demand surcharge in various parts of the US to prevent users from overloading the network. The fee applies specifically to new sign-ups for the Residential plans and was originally just $100. But last year, it rose to as high as $1,000 in parts of Oregon, Washington, and Idaho . 

In January, the fee reached $1,500 for parts of Alaska. It also ensnared existing users who needed to replace their dish  or temporarily switch to Standby Mode, only to later  return to their Residential plan . 

Perhaps in response to complaints, Starlink will now tell users: "When switching to Standby Mode, there may be a warning that a demand surcharge applies to your reactivation." Another support page notes : "A demand surcharge charged after you changed your service address into a high-demand area, changed from a Roam plan to a Residential plan, resumed high-speed service, or activated a new service line in a high-demand area is valid and cannot be waived. This includes service address changes made by mistake. A demand surcharge should not be charged when you switch to Standby Mode or to a Roam plan. If that happened, contact Starlink Support with the invoice number."

Still, we've noticed in recent months that SpaceX has removed the demand surcharge in more parts of the US, signaling it has added more network capacity. In January, the Starlink constellation had about 8,200 satellites in operational orbits, according to astronomer and satellite tracker Jonathan McDowell. That has since increased to just over 10,000. 

SpaceX is also preparing to upgrade Starlink with new V3 satellites, which can offer a 10x boost in download bandwidth compared with the existing V2 Mini sats. The first batch of V3 satellites successfully launched into orbit last month , but are still moving into operational orbits, according to McDowell's data. 

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