Vickie Remoe Institute of Digital Communications

Elon Musk’s Starlink is now active in Nigeria – the first in Africa

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Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) on Monday, January 30, 2023, announced the commencement of the operation of Starlink services in Nigeria, making the West African nation the first country to enjoy their service in the continent of Africa. 

Starlink is a satellite internet constellation operated by SpaceX that launched in 2019. It provides satellite internet access coverage to about 46 countries, which is also targeting the global mobile phone service after 2023.

The Elon Musk-owned firm seeks to deliver a global broadband network, using a constellation of Low Earth Orbit to provide high-speed internet coverage with the capacity to penetrate rural and geographically isolated areas.

Recently, Nigeria’s Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, stated that the country had achieved 100 per cent broadband coverage following the licensing and operation of Starlink.

“Based on the National Broadband Plan, we were to have 90% broadband coverage by December 2025. However, we recently gave a license to Starlink to provide services and this has given us 100% coverage, about 3 years ahead of schedule,” said  Isa Pantami, Nigeria’s Minister of Communications.

According to Nigerian news outlets Premium Times, Starlink stated that interested customers could preorder the starter kits at the price of $600 for the hardware and $43 per month amounting to about N438,000 and N31,000 at the parallel market rate for subscriptions to its services.

Meanwhile, on Starkink’s website, the company said customers can get its services at a lower rate with a 30-day free trial.

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