Elon Musk’s Starlink now active in Nigeria — first country in Africa

Starlink, a satellite internet service owned by Elon Musk, is now available for customers in Nigeria. 

The development is coming weeks after preorder sales were announced.

The company had said customers interested could preorder the starter kits at the price of $600 for the hardware and $43 per month for subscriptions to its services.

In a post on its Twitter page on Tuesday, Starlink said its service is now active in the country.

“Starlink is now available in Nigeria – the first African country to receive service,” the tweet reads.

Starlink is now available in Nigeria – the first African country to receive service! → https://t.co/slZbTmZmAt

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) January 30, 2023

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Meanwhile, on its website, the company said customers can get its services at a lower rate with a 30-day free trial.

The notification said while the hardware would be available for N274,098, the subscription would be at a price of N19,260.

“Starlink is currently available in your area. Customers in your region typically see download speeds of 50-200 Mbps. No contracts, 30-day trial,” the company said.

“Shipping times are currently estimated to be 1 to 2 weeks from order… N19,260/month for service and N274,098 for hardware.”

Confirming the development, Isa Pantami, minister of communications and digital economy, described it as a milestone.

“We have made it again. @SpaceX thank you for hosting me in your headquarters, United States in December 2022 to complete the logistics for the deployment,” he tweeted.

We have made it again. @SpaceX thank you for hosting me in your Headquarters, USA in December, 2022 to complete the logistics for the deployment. https://t.co/gkp2sBkR8i

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— Prof. Isa Ali Ibrahim, CON (@ProfIsaPantami) January 31, 2023

In 2021, TheCable reported that the company, which saw Nigeria as a critical market, was in talks with the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to secure the licences needed to launch.

One year later, Elon Musk announced that Starlink had been approved for deployment in Nigeria.