Starlink rival Viasat reports steep subscriber drop

Starlink rival Viasat has seen a substantial drop in subscribers since Elon Musk’s satellite internet service started its public beta in November 2020. Viasat revealed its current subscribers in the United States in a letter to shareholders that it released this week. 

As per Viasat’s letter, the company’s fixed broadband division ended the quarter with approximately 257,000 subscribers in the United States. For each customer, Viasat noted that it sees about $115 of average revenue per user. This number is not a small deal by any means, but it does represent a notable drop from Viasat’s figures before Starlink’s arrival. 

In September 2020, a few months before Starlink opened its public beta, Viasat noted that it had 603,000 subscribers in the US. By May 2021, a few months after Starlink started offering its services, Viasat noted that its subscribers had fallen to 590,000. Considering Viasat’s recent shareholder letter, it appears that the company has continued to lose subscribers over the years. 

Viasat is not alone in its predicament. Back in March, HughesNet, another provider of satellite internet services in the United States, reported that it had lost over 200,000 subscribers last year, and that its subscribers have dropped to just about 1 million. In December 2020, HughesNet had 1.56 customers in the US. 

While Starlink currently seems to be dominating the United States’ rural internet market, its growth has slowed somewhat. As per Starlink, it currently has over 1.4 million customers in the US, a relatively small increase from the 1.3 million customers that it had on December 2023. Considering that HughesNet still has 1 million customers and Viasat has about 257,000 subscribers remaining, however, Starlink still has a pretty substantial user base to tap in the United States. 

Starlink is designed to connect even the world’s most remote locations to the internet. But as can be seen in the US, Starlink may soon have to find a way to attract customers who live in areas that are already saturated by fiber internet services. It is unlikely that Starlink will rest on its laurels after conquering the US’ rural internet segment, after all. 

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