Zimbabwe’s telecoms regulator POTRAZ finally announced the Starlink licencing today, 10 September. According the statement it released, POTRAZ licenced Starlink Zimbabwe (presumably a Space X /Starlink subsidiary) last week Friday 6 September. The same day, Starlink went live.
Based on the licence types mentioned in the statement, Starlink is paying a total US $575,000 for it.
POTRAZ has also said that the sale of Starlink kits can only be done by businesses it has cleared or licensed for it.
Here’s the full POTRAZ statement:
Press Statement on the Licensing of Starlink
On Friday the 6th of September 2024, the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) issued two licences to STARLINK ZIMBABWE (Pvt) Ltd, namely the Telecommunication Licence for Network Services and the Internet Services Provider (National) Licence.
This Licence-stack authorises STARLINK to provide Internet Services Throughout Zimbabwe using the STARLINK Low Earth Orbit (LEO) Satellite Constellation. In providing Internet Services in Zimbabwe, STARLINK is engaging Agencies, including established Network Operators and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) for the distribution of User Terminals (kits) and as appropriate, the provision of managed end-user services.
It is a condition of the STARLINK Licences that such Agencies, Dealers and ISPs shall be subject to clearance by POTRAZ. This condition applies to both existing and prospective ISPs and Network Operators. The sale or distribution of STARLINK User Terminals without appropriate licensing and clearance is, therefore, an offence punishable by law.
Meanwhile POTRAZ is convinced that the addition of the LEO Technology layer onto the Zimbabwean ecosystem of Network Technologies would enhance ubiquitous and meaningful broadband connectivity throughout Zimbabwe. Connecting the unconnected and bridging the digital divide remain key priorities for Zimbabwe as we journey towards vision 2030.
POTRAX Director General
For reference here are the POTRAZ Licence categories and fees showing the US $575k of the licences.
Disruption: Starlink License Fees vs Incumbents
The license category Starlink falls under is the same other ISP and internet providers will be in, except for those whose legacy licence tenure is yet to run its full 14 or 20 year term. The incumbent internet access providers: Liquid, Dandemutande, Powertel, Telco and Africom likely all have legacy licences that cost them US $5.5M.
Mobile and Fixed Operators on the other hand (Econet, TelOne, NetOne) would have paid US $137M and $100M respectively. Well, we don’t know the extent government companies pay these licenses, but that’s a different matter.
Starlink is disrupting all these incumbents with lower consumer prices, and also paying lower licence fees. Its satellite infrastructure is just a superior technology, and the company has the cash to invest in capacity and to subsidize prices. The SpaceX technology provides global coverage, something the incumbents cannot do even given another 10 years. Network expansion for Fibre, LTE, 5G and traditional VSAT technologies is quite expensive to undertake. Worse, Zimbabwe hasn’t exactly been a conducive place to do business for them.
You’d be tempted to think the mobile operators may not be hit as hard seeing, Starlink is not a mobile phone company. You’d be right only to a small extent. The reality is that Starlink itself is innovating fast to reduce the size of its antenna so it’s as mobile as possible – something you can carry in your backpack. This allows the highest value mobile subscribers to move around with their personal unlimited internet, allowing them to make WhatsApp calls, bypassing the mobile operators.
Incumbent operators will indeed have to innovate fast to stay relevant to their customers.
Share
Home
What’s your take?