Ebunoluwa Akinola
Starlink is a satellite internet service provider operated by Elon Musk’s SpaceX that provides satellite internet access.
The company has been in existence since 2016, but was officially launched in 2018 to commence operations. Similar to the existing service providers in Nigeria like MTN, Glo, 9-mobile, Airtel, Starlink will also be set up to sell internet access to Nigerians.
While people in urban areas have been the major internet users and as such, the main target customers, Starlink says it will target those in rural areas and individuals in locations where internet access has been inconsistent.
“Starlink is ideally suited for areas of the globe where connectivity has been a challenge”.
Unbounded by traditional ground infrastructure, Starlink can deliver high-speed broadband internet to locations where access has been unreliable or completely unavailable.”
According to the company, “Users can expect to see data speeds vary from 50 to 150 megabits per second and latency from 20 to 40 milliseconds in most locations over the next several months,”
The company also outlined that “As we launch more satellites, install more ground stations, and improve our networking software, data speed, latency, and uptime will improve dramatically.” In fact, Elon Musk has also once tweeted that the service speed will be up to 300Mbs by the end of this year, 2021. In reality, this is more than twice the Internet speed most Nigerians currently access.
Nonetheless, the company has theoretically explained that the service is capable of delimitting over 150Mbps internet speeds in any location as far as the user is under the clear view of the sky.
Starlink will probably be costly to an average Nigerian if the company decides to go with its current US pricing. For $99 (almost ₦40,000 in Nigeria) a user in the USA is covered for the month.
Compared to Nigeria, where most internet users don’t spend up to that for the internet in a month, Starlinks will likely get low patronage unless it plans to be competitive in both pricing and services in Nigeria’s diverse market.
Starlinks may not be a good business for other existing service providers, it somehow seems to fit into the government’s projected plans. Also, the new impending competition will be a good challenge for other existing service providers since their market monopoly is most likely going to be challenged as well.
