Starlinks rapid expansion of its satellite internet service across Africa over the past two years has elicited mixed reactions. With speeds significantly surpassing those of fixed broadband providers, an increasing number of consumers and businesses on the continent are eager to adopt the service. However, telecommunications companies telcos and internet service providers who have invested heavily in local network infrastructure are apprehensive about Starlink and the formidable competition it represents.
Nigeria, the continents most populous nation, was the first African country to adopt Starlink in January 2023. Since then, the satellite internet service has briskly expanded to 15 additional countries across the continent, with Zimbabwe being the latest to approve operations in September. Elon Musk, the owner of Starlink through SpaceX, announced in September that the service is awaiting regulatory approval in South Africa, his birthplace and the continents most advanced economy.
This statement followed a meeting with President Cyril Ramaphosa on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly UNGA in New York to discuss Starlinks potential deployment.
I have had discussions with him and have said, Elon, you have become so successful and youre investing in a variety of countries, I want you to come home and invest here, Ramaphosa told reporters in Pretoria after returning from the US. He and I are going to have a further discussion, he added.
Starlink is yet to provide a launch date for South Africa, indicating that negotiations with the government are still underway despite optimistic remarks from both Musk and Ramaphosa. Notably, South Africa remains the only southern African nation that has not approved Starlinks operations.
