Does Starlink Have the Speeds for BEAD?

 You’re reading the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society’s Weekly Digest, a recap of the biggest (or most overlooked) broadband stories of the week. The digest is delivered via e-mail each Friday.

Round-Up for the Week of June 9-13, 2025

The broadband industry has been reeling since the Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) released new rules for the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program on June 6. Now, state broadband offices are scrambling to redo their subgrant programs in 90 days––right when many were poised to begin making their BEAD awards.  

The news this week has been dominated by analysis of the changes to BEAD and how it will affect U.S. broadband infrastructure buildout for years to come. A new report provides an undercurrent to all of this BEAD news we've been reading: according to Ookla's Speedtest data, even though Starlink satellite internet service is improving, it is still not up to speed.

Starlink’s U.S. Performance is on the Rise, but is it Up to BEAD Speed?

NTIA is adopting what it calls a technology-neutral approach “to guarantee that American taxpayers obtain the greatest return on their broadband investment.” Any technology that meets the scalability, latency (less than or equal to 100 milliseconds), and speed (not less than 100 megabits per second for downloads and 20 megabits per second for uploads) performance standards can be considered for BEAD funding.

In her analysis this week, Sue Marek, Editorial Director of Ookla, said that Starlink is “becoming an increasingly attractive broadband option for many.” Marek's analysis breaks down the speed and latency performance of Starlink, as well as the company's new free equipment offer, before assessing who might take advantage of its Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite internet service in the future.

Upload Speeds, Download Speeds, and Latency

According to new BEAD rules, any technology can be eligible for funding from the states as long as it meets 100/20 Mbps speed performance, among other qualifications. So, does Starlink deliver these speeds throughout its network?

Ookla says that Starlink's speeds have nearly doubled over the past three years, reaching a median download speed of 104.7 Mbps in 2025 (compared to 53.9 Mbps in 2022, when the company experienced a decline in speeds). Starlink shows a similar trend in upload speeds, per Ookla's analysis, landing on a median upload speed of 14.8 Mbps in 2025.

Putting these together, a median overall speed of 104/14 Mbps means Starlink internet service would currently not meet BEAD's new requirements to receive funding, despite the 100+ Mbps download rate (which is only the median). Ookla data also demonstrates that only 17.4 percent of U.S. Starlink Speedtest users nationwide were able to get broadband speeds of 100 Mbps download and 20 Mbps upload.

However, when Ookla looked at all satellite providers that deliver service in the U.S., these providers combined are only able to provide 15.75 percent of Speedtest users with speeds of 100/20 Mbps, which means Starlink outperforms the other providers in this category. 

Latency, or the time it takes to transmit data from one point in the network to another, is another area in which Starlink has made improvements in the past few years. Since its network is transmitting data across a much farther distance (specifically, to space and back) than your fiber or fixed wireless provider, Starlink has dealt with higher latency.

In the first quarter of 2025, the company reported a median latency of 45 milliseconds (ms), which does meet the BEAD criteria of under 100 ms. Ookla's analysis does not include how much of Starlink's service falls above the 100 ms benchmark.

Ookla adds that Starlink's goal is to deliver service with just 20 ms median latency. However, the lowest median latency rates recorded by Speedtest users in all or portions of the following states were 38 ms in the District of Columbia and 39 ms in Arizona, Colorado and New Jersey. Alaska and Hawaii have the highest latency rates of 105 ms and 115 ms, respectively. The higher latency rates in these two states are likely due to these two states being more geographically distant from Starlink’s constellation of satellites and not having the same density of satellites as the continental U.S.

Starlink's Free Equipment Offer, and its Speed Performance

The new BEAD rules have loosened the program's low-cost service requirements to ensure affordable broadband service and eliminated the middle-class affordability requirement entirely. Now, internet service providers propose their own affordable service offerings, and there's not much that states can do if the affordable service option doesn't meet the needs of their low-income residents.

Starlink has two standard broadband internet service plans: Residential Lite ($80/month) and Residential ($120/month). The less expensive of the two, Residential Lite, is only available in select areas. Residential Lite customers’ traffic is deprioritized behind Residential, and Lite customers see slower speeds during peak hours, despite the company claiming that neither plan has any data caps or speed caps. 

Typical download speeds for Residential Lite customers, according to Starlink's website, range from 45-130 Mbps (as compared to 100-270+ Mbps for the Residential service plan). While it is unclear what kind of low-cost subscription Starlink might propose to states, under the Residential Lite plan, subscribers would be paying for service that does not meet BEAD speed standards.

Starlink's residential service startup kit, which is $349, is now eligible for BEAD funding.

In an effort to make the company's offerings much more enticing, Starlink is currently offering its startup kit for $0 if new subscribers commit to 12 months of residential internet service. This offer is not available nationwide: the “free dish” deal is not available in the Southeast, Appalachia, Great Lakes, and Pacific Northwest regions. Still, $80 for 45-130 Mbps download speeds pales in comparison to the fiber offerings of many U.S. providers. Fiber optic internet typically offers download speeds of 1 gigabit per second (1000 Mbps) or higher, with some providers offering speeds up to 10 Gbps.

Ookla's Speedtest data for the states where Starlink is offering the free equipment indicates that existing Starlink users are experiencing a range of median download speeds, from as high as 136.93 Mbps in Maine to as low as 72.65 Mbps in Alaska. Perhaps more telling, according to Ookla, are the download speeds for Speedtest users in the 25th percentile, which provides the download speed performance for the bottom quarter of Speedtest users in these states. The 25th percentile of Starlink users in Nebraska, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, and Wyoming are experiencing download speeds of more than 80 Mbps (again, not up to BEAD standards).

States Experiment With LEO

Ookla concludes that Starlink is a suitable competitor to fiber and fixed wireless internet service providers, as it can provide 100/20 Mbps service to 20 percent of its subscribers across the country.

However, for the other 80 percent, the company's current service performance does not meet federal standards and should not be considered a viable option for BEAD.

Be that as it may, many states have developed their own LEO satellite internet service funding programs and are pivoting to support the technology. Ookla points to the Maine Connectivity Authority's (MCA) Working Internet ASAP Program––announced in December 2024––which makes Starlink's equipment free for Maine’s 9,000 locations without any internet access. The Maine Broadband Office is covering the equipment and providing installation support, plus paying for extra capacity to ensure reliable connections. The customers are on the hook for the monthly subscription fees at the level that is available to them. Only 4 percent of qualifying locations had enrolled despite the state’s extensive outreach efforts¹.

In January 2025, the Texas Broadband Development Office (BDO) also announced a competitive grant program to support the deployment of LEO satellite broadband service in rural, unserved areas of Texas, using $30 million from the state’s Broadband Infrastructure Fund.

The BDO's pilot program will use LEO satellite technology to connect eligible, unserved locations, focusing first on areas that were not adequately addressed through the fiber-focused Bringing Online Opportunities to Texas (BOOT) Program. This pilot program will allow the state to gather valuable data and refine the program's guidelines to maximize its impact as the office seeks to scale the program statewide.

Total funding available for the LEO Program is $30 million. Eligibility for the pilot program is limited to 3,500 broadband serviceable locations located within five countries in Texas. Eligible service providers must also provide 100/20 Mbps speeds consistently throughout their network.

The Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for the Texas LEO Program lists the deadline to apply for the program as June 18, 2025.

Notes:

1. Data shared by the Maine Connectivity Authority.

Quick Bits

• Commerce Committee Democrats Call for Regular Order on Dangerous and Damaging Commerce Title of Reconciliation Bill
• Letter to Secretary Lutnick Regarding Digital Equity Act Funding
• BEAD and State Broadband Offices
• Is the Federal Communications Commission Out of Commission?

Weekend Reads

• Mind the Map: The Hidden Impact of Inaccurate Broadband Availability Claims
• Understanding the Value of a Digital Equity Researcher-Practitioner Collaboration Using Participatory Action Research
• Middle Mile Networks: The Backbone and Highway to Affordable Broadband Innovation
• Red Tape Isn’t the Only Reason America Can’t Build

ICYMI from Benton

• Fixed Wireless Technologies and Their Suitability for Broadband Delivery
• Here’s How NTIA is Changing the BEAD Program
• A New BEAD in 180 Days?
• The Opportunities and Challenges of AI in Our Communications Networks

Upcoming Events

Jun 16––Outside of the Box: Rethinking The FCC's Regulations In The Age Of Streaming (Congressional Internet Caucus)

Jun 17––How Broadband Could Improve Health Outcomes (Benton Institute for Broadband & Society)

Jun 19––National Juneteenth Digital Opportunity Bible Study (Black Churches 4 Digital Equity Coalition)

Jun 26––June 2025 Open Federal Communications Commission Meeting (Federal Communications Commission)

Jul 7––Hurricane Season Resiliency Roundtable (Federal Communications Commission)

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