On February 1, Nigeria became the first African country and the 47th country in the world to acquire Elon Musk’s Starlink online service. Before that, Elon Musk tweeted about Starlink’s approval to launch in Nigeria – and Mozambique – seven months ago. There are 20 more countries on Starlink, including Zambia, Senegal, Morocco and Angola, which are set to launch in 2023, according to a service availability map. Uganda, Tunisia, Ghana and Egypt are among the 16 countries slated for release in 2024, while another 18 have yet to have their release dates confirmed.
What makes Starlink unique is its ability to use low Earth orbit to provide broadband internet capable of supporting streaming, online gaming, video calls, and more. Its ability to penetrate rural and geographically isolated areas also makes it stand out. According to the company, Starlink is the world’s first and largest constellation of thousands of satellites orbiting the planet near Earth, about 550 kilometers away, covering the entire globe. Because the Starlink satellites are in a lower orbit, the latency is much lower – about 20ms versus 600+ms.
Many Nigerians have welcomed the entry of Starlink as a new competitor to ISPs in the country. Starlink will offer speeds between 50 and 200 Mbps, which is quite an improvement considering Nigeria’s 5G network is struggling to reach 130 Mbps. It’s very exciting considering that Starlink will offer higher internet speeds at reduced rates. However, there are some misconceptions about Starlink’s very fast rollout in Nigeria that need to be dispelled. They are
Starlink is a direct competitor to mobile networks in Nigeria:
The company boasts of a bandwidth of 230Mbps – one that is much higher than that offered by any other mobile internet provider in Nigeria. The internet company does not yet compete directly with MTN, Airtel, GLO or other mobile networks.
This is to allow it to be customized for a specific audience due to the installation and installation requirements of Starlink hardware. Users must install a satellite dish in order to access Starlink Internet in Nigeria. As a result, unlike mobile networks like MTN and Airtel that provide internet access as long as you have your smartphone, SIM card and data in a network covered area, Starlink only offers geolocation internet access.
Starlink is cheaper compared to the existing fiber internet providers in Nigeria
Well, if you are not aware of the cost of Starlink installation and subscriptions in Nigeria, then this idea can be misleading. Total hardware and setup fees are $274,098 ($595), with additional subscriptions costing $19,260 ($42) per month, a very relative number, especially considering the country’s parallel dollar price.
The above conversion is based on the Bank of Canada rate of 460 yen – $1. However, to purchase the entire internet package, including hardware and subscription, you will need a local account and dollar card due to restrictions on dollar transactions on Naira cards.
Unless you maintain a dollar account and don’t have to worry about the exchange rate, funding your local dollar account will follow unofficial rates now estimated at about $750 to $1. This means that the total cost for the first setup could be 450,000 while for the subscription instead of 19,260, you pay 37,000 per month.
In terms of speed, Starlink may be more reliable compared to other fiber optic solutions available in Nigeria at the moment, but it is much more expensive, especially if you buy and subscribe using rates from the parallel market. While other internet providers in Nigeria allow you to pay in naira, they are not as expensive as Starlinks.
Starlink has come to free Nigerians from slow or terrible networks
Currently, Starlink is not specifically targeting regular Nigerian internet users. Instead, the target is the private bourgeoisie, corporations, and tech enthusiasts who need blazing fast internet for their operations and can afford installation fees at their facilities.
If cost is not an issue, Starlink may be the perfect solution for you. For the average Nigerian who only needs internet to browse social media sites and do routine internet activities, you may want to consider sticking to mobile internet or MIFI instead of Starlink.