SpaceX’s Starlink internet services have taken-off in Nigeria.
This is shortly after the country’s Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami’s assurance that the services will soon start in the country.
A software engineer in Abeokuta, southwest Nigeria, Bello Gbadebo, on 3 January, 2023 said he attained a download speed of up to 240 Mbps (Megabits per second) in his newly acquired Starlink starter kit.
This will make Nigeria the first country in Africa to use Starlink’s internet services.
This was expected to start in December, 2022 after Starlink delivered its user terminals to the country but was delayed due to administrative problems.
The high-speed, low latency nation-wide beam will help Nigeria attain full access to the internet ahead of her plan to achieve 90 per cent national coverage by 2025.
Starlink operates in Nigeria as Starlink Internet Services Nigeria Ltd and will cover the entire country including remote and inaccessible areas.
Nigerian Communications Commission, the country’s telecommunications regulator, granted it International Gateway Licence valid for 10 years and Internet Service Provider Licence valid for five years in May, 2022.
Discussions for the licences started a year earlier.
Starlink is registered in Mozambique, Nigeria and Rwanda in Africa and oparetes in 45 countries, including parts of the US and Canada.
The starter kit, which consists of a terminal, mounting tripod and Wi-Fi router, costs 599 dollars but Starlink has lowered it to 99 dollars in Nigeria.
The monthly subscription is 110 dollars but 43 dollars for Nigerian customers.
The medial download speed is 97.23 Mbps (Megabits per second) and the medial upload speed is 13.89 Mbps.
Mbps is a measure of broadband speed. The more the Mbps, the faster your online activity will be.
The average acceptable download speed is 100 Mbps and 10 Mbps for upload.
SpaceX started launching satellites into Low Earth Orbit for its Starlink services in 2019.
By the end of 2022, it has launched at least 3,000 satellites most of which are operational.
Many more satellites are planned to achieve an unrivalled global internet and telephone service by Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) for its Starlink satellite internet network.
