After the Zimbabwean government first issued a warning to the general people against using Starlink (citing the fact that the satellite internet provider is not licenced), the government has now confirmed that it is considering the licence application submitted by the satellite internet operator.
Jenfan Muswere, who serves as the minister of information, publicity, and broadcasting services in Zimbabwe, has acknowledged that an application for an operating licence from Starlink has been received by the country’s communications regulator.
Muswere also mentioned that the application has been submitted to the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ), which is now conducting an evaluation of it. After incidents of illegal reselling became commonplace across the nation about two weeks ago, POTRAZ issued a warning to the public about the dangers of using Starlink without a valid licence.
“What I remember is that they submitted their application for licencing, and POTRAZ was still going through that application… Of course, we want to see it approved,” Muswere reported.
Read also: Starlink becomes illegal in Zimbabwe
More details
In addition, according to Muswere, the reason Zimbabwe would aim to allow Starlink is that it is proving difficult to connect the entire country to the internet via fibre-optic lines spread across the country, which is one of the reasons why Zimbabwe would prefer to approve Starlink. According to the information provided on its website, Starlink anticipates launching in the country by the fourth quarter of 2023.
“It’s not possible to have fibre-optic cables across the country. It’s a reality that we need satellite technology for communication purposes. What we want as the government is a situation where every citizen from Binga to Chiredzi is also connected. That’s what the government wants, to leave no one behind,” Muswere added.
Elon Musk’s Starlink faces regulatory challenges with specific African countries
The impact of Starlink
It currently operates more than 4,000 satellites in low earth orbit, and this number is rapidly increasing.
Starlink has already launched its services in a number of African nations, including Mauritius, Nigeria, Rwanda, Kenya, Mozambique, Reunion, Malawi, and Zambia; however, the company still needs to obtain regulatory licences in a great number of additional nations.
It says on its website that it anticipates rolling out services in Zimbabwe in the last three months of the year, although this seems doubtful given that POTRAZ is taking its sweet time giving final approvals.
Starlink is being considered as a potential solution to the problem of poor internet access in rural areas of Zimbabwe, particularly in areas with low population densities that make the installation of mobile phone towers unfeasible from an economic standpoint. The technology that the company has developed enables broadband signals to be beamed down to earth in locations where there is either a lack of infrastructure on the ground or where installing it would be either expensive or problematic.
The country of Zimbabwe has an internet speed that averages out to just 30 megabits per second (Mbps). In comparison, the internet speeds that can be provided via Starlink satellites can reach up to 200 Mbps, which is six times quicker.
Nevertheless, the technology is not inexpensive. For example, in Nigeria, the initial investment for the Starlink kit (which includes a dish and a router) is roughly US$600, while the cost of the monthly subscription is approximately US$43. Only a select few people will be able to afford the service if non-governmental organisations and the government do not invest in the technology that will provide connectivity to populations that are currently underserved. The average income for a worker in Zimbabwe is just under US$200 per month.
Many people in Zimbabwe hold out hope that the advent of Starlink will lead to a reduction in the cost of Internet services, which are currently among the most costly in all of Africa.
