After crashing price in Nigeria, another African country stops Elon Musk’s Starlink operations

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 resellers in September last year that they must obtain the requisite licenses to operate legally.

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.

According to reports., the country’s regulatory boss, Machengete Gift, revealed this after speaking directly with Elon Musk and asking that SpaceX, the owner of Starlink, submit a formal application to provide services in Zimbabwe before any other actions are taken.

Machengete 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 had slashed the price of its hardware by 45% to N440,000 as the naira strengthened against the US dollar.

Starlink 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.