Starlink capacity has started opening up in previously sold out areas in Zimbabwe. Bulawayo, where some areas where sold out last year in November, has open up completely. Some towns surrounding Harare that were also sold out have started opening up too.
Capacity in Harare and parts of Bulawayo ran out just weeks after Starlink went live in Zimbabwe last year. In Harare, the sold out area quickly increased to cover areas more than 100km from Harare such as Chegutu and Macheke. This sold out area is reducing though. Both Chegutu and Macheke now have capacity. Other previously sold out areas such as Mvurwi also now have capacity.
The congestion has mostly been blamed on informal resellers who bought several kits each to resell them locally at a profit to people that could not buy online for one reason or the other. When capacity filled up, the secondary market for Starlink kits thrived on platforms such Facebook and WhatsApp.
The additional capacity is therefore good news for many.
It’s not just Zimbabwe. Capacity has opening up in other countries too since mid February, such as Mozambique and Zambia. The expectation so far is that this will continue to happen and hopefully, soon, sold out will be a thing of the past.
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