Starlink goes live in Senegal as satellite internet expands in Africa

Elon Musk-owned SpaceX has launched Starlink in Senegal, providing high-speed and low-latency internet services in the African country, according to TechAfrica News on February 5th.

The service, which has gone live, can be accessed by residents and commercial users by signing up on the official portal. Starlink has been rapidly expanding its services across Africa, with Nigeria, the most populous country, being the first to receive Starlink in 2023.

The company’s ambitious plans for Africa have been met with criticism by some local internet service providers, whose argument is that the company has limited investment in local infrastructure and thus an unfair advantage. With minimal physical infrastructure and virtually no employees in the country, locals argue that companies like Starlink enjoy free rein with minimal local presence.

This also comes with an advantage in pricing, which local providers find difficult to compete with. While 5G networks work well in urban areas with dense infrastructure and fibre backhaul, Satellite internet has the advantage of reaching very remote areas with no ground infrastructure.

SpaceX’s expansion of its Starlink internet services is meant to bridge the digital divide in Africa. In January this year, Mauritania launched a tender to award licenses for mobile electronic communications services via satellite, as nearly 63% of its population was offline in 2023. While SpaceX is not yet authorised to sell its services to the public, it plans to commercially launch soon in 2026.

The company has also been in negotiations with Morocco to expand its services, but has yet to get approval from regulatory authorities. As Morocco recently launched its 5G services, telecom operators fear Starlink’s competition when it is rolled out in the future. The Satellite services would also be part of Morocco’s Digital Morocco 2030.

Starlink is already operational in several countries in Africa including: Nigeria, Rwanda, Kenya, Ghana, South Sudan, Guinea-Bissau, DR Congo, and Chad, among others.

Namibia has also been weighing the satellite internet service opportunity, with issues they described that concern national security and digital sovereignty. Richard Iroanya, an expert in African peace, security, and strategy, said that Starlink is a concern due to its private and foreign ownership.

“The seriousness of this problem becomes clear when viewed against the background that Starlink’s messaging systems are encrypted. This enables whatever is sent through them to bypass Namibia’s cybersecurity system,” Iroanya said.

Regulation of data becomes a challenge, which Iroanya suggested could be tackled by giving a conditional license that imposes data localisation. He also suggests equity participation with local firms that would allow “skills transfer, technology diffusion, and local capacity building, enabling the country to benefit from improved connectivity while retaining a degree of strategic control over its digital infrastructure.”

In this way, African countries may not have to choose between digital inclusion and long-term digital sovereignty; relying heavily on foreign technology may ultimately result in what some experts call “digital colonisation”.

TechAfrica News, African Business, Space in Africa, Kenya Star, Maghrebi.org