The day before, Elon Musk, head of Starlink satellite provider SpaceX, tweeted that the project had received permits to operate in Nigeria and Mozambique. Literally three days earlier, he had answered a question on social networks about when the service would be launched in Africa.
To date, Starlink operates in more than 30 countries and serves more than 400,000 subscribers. In May last year, SpaceX sent representatives to obtain permits from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the country’s profile regulator.
The Nigerian edition of Nairametrics confirmed the words of Mr. Musk about obtaining permission from the NCC. The publication also states that the license was issued to a country-registered entity, Starlink Internet Services Nigeria Ltd., and is valid since May 2022.
Starlink will prove to be a long-awaited competitor to local telecom operators MTN and Airtel, which fought for the market in the country, but, according to TechCrunch, did not improve the quality of communication. However, the high cost of satellite communications from Elon Musk still speaks in their favor. The starter kit costs $599 — it includes a terminal, hardware for installation, and a Wi-Fi router — and the monthly subscription fee is $110. There is also a premium service, which includes a set of equipment for $2,500 and a subscription fee of $500. For the average Nigerian or Mozambican user, this is a bit pricey.