Tizeti, Coollink, 4 Other Nigerian Satellite Internet Providers Can Rival Elon Musk’s Starlink in Nigeria
- About six Nigerian satellite internet service providers were in existence before Starlink launched in Nigeria this year
- The companies have been serving some rural dwellers in the last couple of years
- Also, they provide cheaper satellite internet services to Nigerians while covering the country
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Between January and February this year, Payday, a Nigerian payment company, said it processed about $300,000 worth of Starlink payments
Starlink, owned by Billionaire businessman Elon Musk and operated by SpaceX, the space company, launched in late January in Nigeria to wide acceptance.
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Nigerian satellite internet service providers
Experts said that Starlink’s power could be attributed to the influence of Elon Musk, its founder, and believed that Nigerians missed a great opportunity with its homegrown and developed internet providers.
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They say some local players in the satellite internet ecosystem, such as Eutelsat and others, work where it matters in Nigeria.
TechPoint reports that in November, Eutelsat partnered with Tizeti to provide internet services in rural areas.
The report said Nigeria’s internet access falls between 38% and 55%.
Per the report by GSMA, about 61% of rural Nigerians need to be connected to the internet, which is approximately 60 million Nigerians in rural areas.
The report also stated that southern Nigeria has more internet connections than the north.
Experts also said that mobile internet firms are profit-seeking concerns and can only go to where they can be assured of a return on investment.
Operators such as MTN and Airtel are aggressively pushing 4G coverage to areas where people are to get to get the devices to use them.
In November 2022, Tizeti signed a partnership with the satellite internet provider Eutelsat, which they say is meant to solve Nigeria’s internet connectivity challenges.
“The partnership with Eutelsat covers all of Nigeria, specifically unserved and underserved locations, so obviously, outside major cities, such as Lagos. However, we will do this in phases. The first phase covers some states in the South-West, which is ongoing. Installation is in progress, and we plan to launch commercially over the next few days,” Temitope Osunrinde told TechPoint.
Local players offering lower prices
According to him, Tizeti covers five states in Nigeria, such as Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Edo, and Rivers, and plans to add more in 2023.
The pricing of these local players is affordable for people in rural areas.
While Starlink costs about N19,333 monthly, Coollink, an satellite internet provider, offers services for as low as N7,000, and Tizeti at less than N1,000 per 1GB monthly.
These Nigerian companies have the potential to provide relief with affordable pricing compared to Starlink.
The local players such as Eutelsat, SES, Viasat, Avanti, YahClick, and Coollink have done superb jobs before the arrival of Starlink in 2023.
Tizeti reportedly covers about 18,000 customers, next to market leaders, Spectranet, with over 100,000 subscribers, according to data from NCC.
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Legit.ng reported that as Nigerians brace for the entry of Elon Musk’s Starlink into ISP space in the country, competition in the sector is getting stiffer.
The recent competition in the industry has seen a crash in the cost of the service in the country, with many providers jostling for pockets of Nigerians.
Many of the service providers in Nigeria depend heavily on subscription models and their services are geared towards meeting the needs of corporate clients.
Source: Legit.ng
