Blurring the lines between upgrades and restrictions
While you’ll occasionally see ISPs with strict data caps claiming that their throttled speeds still count as unlimited data, it’s not too difficult to spot the holes in these arguments. Unfortunately, evaluating such claims can get tricky when providers get creative with their data policies and billing systems.
Perhaps the most mercurial internet provider is Starlink, which has had three very different data policies in the span of six months. At the time of its launch, Starlink was the only satellite provider to provide truly unlimited internet data with no data restriction. However, as its network struggled to maintain speeds due to the influx of new customers, Starlink implemented a 1TB data cap to try and manage its network traffic.
Although 1TB is an incredibly generous data allotment for a satellite plan, this move was not popular among Starlink fans. After just a few months, the data cap was gone, replaced with a tiered system of three service plans. Starlink residential customers now use the Standard service plan by default, which has unlimited data. Customers on the Standard data plan can upgrade to Priority by purchasing limited data in chunks starting at 1TB. As you might expect, customers paying for Priority data have their data prioritized over those with the Standard data plan.
If paying for data to avoid having your connection deprioritized sounds a lot like a data cap, you’re not wrong. It’s a roundabout way of getting back to the same unpopular 1TB cap that it just replaced.
Although this is a far cry from the straightforward billing plans we like to see from an internet provider, there are some important differences between Starlink’s unlimited Standard data plan and the providers that pretend their soft data caps don’t count. First, the Standard plan is the default for Starlink customers, not a punishment. This means that Starlink customers should still expect to get the advertised speeds for their plan, even if they might be on the lower end of the advertised speeds.
Secondly, although Priority data is required for certain features like Starlink Roam’s in-motion internet, customers aren’t forced to pay for Priority data in the same way some ISPs charge overage fees. If you pay for Priority and run out of data, you’re downgraded back to the Standard data plan, rather than to a nebulous punishment tier.
In summary, while it’s technically accurate to say that Starlink no longer has data caps, there are a lot of asterisks next to that claim. Since it does have some data plans that are limited and customers might have to pay for those plans to access the top ranges of their plan’s advertised speeds, Starlink is far from a clear example of what we mean when we talk about unlimited data, even if it checks the box when doing a basic comparison to the competition.
