Discounted Starlink has been gaining traction in Memphis, Tennessee, according to SpaceX.
On Wednesday, SpaceX’s AI arm reported that about 2,000 customers in the greater Memphis and Southaven area had signed up for Starlink since late June. That's when the company began offering its satellite internet service at a bargain amid complaints about its noisy data center.
The rare discount is still available for residents in Memphis and bordering Southaven, Mississippi, slashing the price of Starlink residential plans by 50% to $27.50 to $65 per month.
Starlink managed to attract customers even though the region is fairly urban/suburban and already home to several traditional internet service providers. This includes AT&T and Xfinity, which offer faster fiber connections for as low as $35 or $40 per month. Starlink has been a more popular option for users in rural and remote areas who lack high-speed internet options.
But it looks like the deep discount on SpaceX’s satellite internet service has convinced some people to switch. “My Xfinity bill is outrageous. Looking for relief,” wrote one user in a Reddit thread for Memphis residents in June. Others complained about reliability issues with their existing ISP or cited Xfinity’s infamous 1.2TB monthly data cap.
Still, other users on social media have described the Starlink discount as a “bribe.” Satellite industry analyst Tim Farrar also noted that 2,000 is a relatively small number for the area; Memphis's population is 609,000. Globally, Starlink has over 13 million customers.
SpaceX began offering the discount after the expansion of its data centers in the area faced protests and lawsuits over the jet-engine-like noise and gas turbine use at the site. “Communities in Memphis and North Mississippi aren’t asking for discounted internet service —they're asking xAI to shut down its illegal, unpermitted power plant that continues to pump out staggering amounts of harmful pollution,” the Southern Environmental Law Center previously told PCMag.
Last month, SpaceX announced it would phase out the 69 mobile gas turbines at the site by July 2027. The plan is to replace the power generation with 41 permanent turbines authorized under a Clean Air Act permit, with the goal of reducing potential pollution and noise.
“We’re committed to responsibly powering our supercomputers while minimizing the impact on our surrounding communities,” the company tweeted on Monday after powering down 11 of the mobile gas turbines. SpaceX also offers the same Starlink discount to residents along the coast of Louisiana, where the company plans to build a new spaceport that could also face concerns about environmental and noise impacts.