Elon Musk’s Starlink Internet Service Set to Launch, Rivals Panic as Nigerians Pre-Order Routers
- Elon Musk’s Starlink internet service will begin operation in Nigeria this month
- But Nigerians who have pre-ordered the package report that it is very costly
- Also, the proposed launch of the internet service is touted to disrupt internet service in Nigeria
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Nigerians have started the use of Elon Musk’s Starlink internet service which is set to launch this month in Nigeria.
The announcement of the proposed launch by the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy has left many competitors panicking as it is set to disrupt the industry.
Source: Getty Images
Local internet operators jittery
Local operators said part of their end-of-year plan is to study how the billionaire’s internet service plans to disrupt the industry in Nigeria since satellite internet can be accessed in the rural areas where the presence of the competition is not felt.
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Subscribers who pre-ordered the Starlink ahead of the launch have reported that the package is very expensive.
Some said via social media that they had pre-ordered the package as far back as August 2022 for almost $100 but said the company asked them to about N267,978 during installation.
According to a BusinessDay report, Starlink would discount about $43 for Nigerians. Customers in parts of the globe pay between $110-$500 monthly for various Mbps.
Service to disrupt the industry
It is expected that the entrance of Starlink internet service in Nigeria would crash the price of internet access, and improve service delivery by competitors who may lose customers to the more reliable satellite service.
Speed remains the selling point of the Elon Musk-owned service provider as it is projected that satellite internet could project a speed of up to 300 Mbps as of 2021.
A report by Ookla, a global broadband speed test platform for internet providers, said the median download speeds of Starlink in the US dipped from 96.6Mbps to 62.5Mbps between Q1 and Q2 of 2022.
The company’s speed median uploads in the US also dipped from 9.3Mbps to 7.2Mbps during the same period.
Ookla also discovered that Starlink speeds fell in every country surveyed in the past year as more users sign on for the service.
Currently, the company has about one million users globally.
MTN launches 5G as Starlink is set to increase satellites
In Nigeria, MTN launched its 5G network which boasts 600-800 Mbps, selling at N50,000 for a router and a monthly subscription much lower than Starlink’s.
SpaceX, the parent company of Starlink says it will boost the number of satellites it currently has to increase speed. It started launching Starlink satellites in 2019 and as of September 2022 has more than 3,000 satellites in low-Earth orbit.
SpaceX got approval from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to go ahead with launching about 7,500 next-generation satellites in its Starlink internet network.
FG says Elon Musk’s Starlink to roll out internet service December 2022
Recall that Legit.ng reported that the Nigerian government said Elon Musk’s satellite internet service, Starlink, will be rolling out operations in Nigeria before the end of 2022.
The announcement comes as the federal government entered into a partnership with the billionaire’s space exploration company, SpaceX, to deliver broadband service across Nigeria.
Isa Pantami, Nigeria’s Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, disclosed at the US Space Forum at the just-ended US-Africa Leaders’ Summit in Washington.
Source: Legit.ng
