Elon Musk promised to give victims of Hurricane Helen 30 days of free access to his satellite-based Starlink internet service, but the billionaire said he would give victims of Hurricane Helen 30 days of free access to the No mention was made of the need for storm survivors to branch out. Over $400 for system hardware.
Starlink, a division of Musk's rocket-building and space exploration company SpaceX, last week issued a message on its official X page to Helen survivors who live in areas where telephone and fiber-optic cables were cut. They announced that the service will be “free for 30 days.” — Deny access to the Internet.
The post went viral, generating tens of millions of views.
Musk then wrote to X that all Starlink devices “will work automatically without you having to do anything.” [the] Payments are required in areas affected by Hurricane Helen. ”
But experiment Operated by online publication The Register It has been revealed that people from disaster-affected areas who try to sign up for the service will have to pay $400 for food, plus shipping, handling fees, and taxes.
Starlink also began promoting a special help page created specifically for hurricane victims.
The company said people who signed up for free internet service in affected areas will be automatically transitioned to a $120 monthly residential subscription after a 30-day grace period.
Customers who live in the affected area, already have a dish, and want the fee waived will need to create a special support ticket, which the company will evaluate on an unspecified date.
Kinney Bowman, a resident of Boone, North Carolina, told the Register that Starlink's proposal was “a clever bait-and-switch designed to take advantage of people rather than help them.”
Bowman said it wasn't worth it for residents to take up Musk's offer because it would “take months to get service,” by which time normal internet access could have been restored. Said it was expensive.
“Even if someone were able to physically get to the device by climbing over one or two or more of the fallen bridges, they still need electricity to run the device,” Bowman said. .
“Thousands of people are still without power, and hundreds if not thousands of people are without a generator.”
The Post has reached out to SpaceX for comment.
Musk, a supporter of former President Donald Trump, has criticized the federal government's response to Helen.
Two weeks ago, Helen flooded streets and homes in western Florida and carried out a devastating march across the South that left at least 230 people dead.
Just as clearing from Helen begins, another deadly storm, Milton, is expected to make landfall late Wednesday night, forcing Florida residents in the state's west to evacuate Monday and Tuesday.
