Starlink entered the Nigerian market in January 2023. Naija was the first African country to adopt its satellite internet service.
By the end of Q3 2024, Starlink had over 65,500 users, making it the second-largest internet service provider in Nigeria, with projections to become the largest by mid-2026.
Dear Zimbabwean ISPs, I hope you’re seeing all this. I remember conversations with some local guys who saw Starlink’s perceived slow progress in Kenya as proof that it really wasn’t a threat.
Local internet service providers in Nigeria have reported subscriber losses due to Starlink’s reliable service, with market leader Spectranet losing over 8,400 subscribers in a year.
Starlink has invested in infrastructure by establishing a base station in Lagos and plans to expand to Abeokuta and Port Harcourt, enhancing its service delivery.
That’s likely not happening soon in Zimbabwe, but you can’t rest on that because Starlink doesn’t really need a strong physical presence in this country to compete.
Critical institutions in Nigeria are wary of using Starlink due to national security risks, fearing potential data access by foreign entities.
To be fair, this might be a good idea for our own critical institutions. Let the masses selling their wares on Facebook use the foreign-controlled Starlink, but let sensitive state stuff not end up there.
The Nigerian ISPs are not taking the fight lying down. Starlink’s entry has prompted them to adapt by diversifying their services, such as Tizeti adding fibre internet to its offerings.
How Zimbabwean ISPs Are Responding
Here in Zimbabwe, we have also seen ISPs adapt. A number of players have entered into agreements with Starlink’s competitors to benefit off of the satellite internet craze.
Both Liquid and TelOne partnered with OneWeb. NetOne will work with AST for direct-to-phone satellite internet. Some other players are reselling Starlink kits to, at the very least, benefit from Starlink’s success.
We have seen new packages introduced, including unlimited mobile data packages (with some limitations)—something we never thought we would see in Zimbabwe.
We have seen some packages drop in price as well, as local ISPs responded well to the threat. On some level, I think they can do more.
The $30 unlimited package at speeds of up to 100Mbps reliably that Starlink offers is pretty sweet and needs to be countered. Starlink has also introduced interest-free credit options so users can get the more expensive kits, and to this day, supply can’t keep up with demand.
When—not if—Starlink fixes its capacity issues, it will be a bloodbath if local ISPs can’t compete with the Starlink standard we just talked about.
In all this, local ISPs have two main things working against them: public resentment after years of extortionate pricing and the tendency of people to hype up the new thing.
They will have to come up with packages taking this into account. I’m sure you have seen hundreds of comments from people proclaiming they are never leaving Starlink, and some saying they will be following suit the moment capacity increases.
That’s all talk, though. If local ISPs offer cheaper packages that perform well enough, all that posturing will go out the window. Very few will pay more just to stick it to local companies.
Anyway, the only thing I don’t want to see is a Starlink monopoly. We need options, and so I’m rooting for the local guys to compete in the long run.
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