After Crashing Price in Nigeria, Another African Country Stops Elon Musk’s Starlink Operations
- The operations of Starlink in Zimbabwe have been halted due to regulatory and licensing concerns
- The country asked that Starlink and its resellers discontinue and disconnect all the company's kits operating in the country illegally
- Zimbabwe also asked the company to apply for a proper license or partner with an existing provider to offer its services
Legit.ng’s Pascal Oparada has reported on tech, energy, stocks, investment and the economy for over a decade.
The director-general at the Posts and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe has asked Starlink to disconnect all its kits allegedly operating illegally in the country.
The country warned Starlink and its resellers in September last year that they must obtain the requisite licenses to operate legally.
Source: Getty Images
Zimbabwe offers options to Starlink
The country’s telecom regulator proposed two options to Starlink: it can either apply directly for a license or partner with a registered public network to offer its services.
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According to reports, the country’s regulatory boss, Machengete Gift, revealed this after speaking directly with Elon Musk.
Gift also requested that SpaceX, the owner of Starlink, submit a formal application to provide services in Zimbabwe before any other actions are taken.
The regulatory boss expressed optimism that Starlink will soon submit an application for licensing in the country.
Starlink adds more users
The company’s operations in Africa have been rocked by regulatory concerns and challenges, where about 40% of Africa’s 1.3 billion population have internet access, the lowest in the world.
Zimbabwe and South Africa are among several countries on the continent that are yet to provide licensing for Starlink services.
Reports say that Starlink recently announced that it has grown its global user base by 500,000, bringing the total number of international subscribers to about 2.7 million.
Elon Musk announced the growth in a video message, stating that the company's user base grew from 2.2 million to the current figure in just four months.
Elon Musk’s Starlink slashes price in Nigeria
Legit.ng earlier reported that Starlink slashed the price of its hardware by 45% to N440,000 as the naira strengthened against the US dollar.
The company announced the new rate on Wednesday, April 10, 2024.
As of April 9, 2024, the Starlink hardware sold for N800,000 is now worth N440,000. The standard internet service subscription remains the same at N38,000 monthly.
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Source: Legit.ng
