BY BUSINESS EDITOR
MBABANE – Eswatini is now the second neighbour of South Africa and the ninth country in Africa where Starlink has debuted.
The corporation, which is owned by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, announced the news earlier this week in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
It will cost Emaswati E12 000 once off to import a standard Starlink kit, irrespective of the package they take out for the service. An E450 shipping and handling fee will also be applied.
The residential package, which allows for Starlink use at home, is the cheapest option, with a R950 monthly base fee and an additional E120 monthly regulatory fee which will be levied by the Eswatini Communications Commission (ESCCOM). The monthly total for this package will be E1 070.
Residents could also choose to take out a mobile package which will allow them to use the service across the country. With the E120 regulatory fee applied, this package comes to E1 370.
There is also a global Starlink package, where residents will pay a total of E3 920 per month to be able to access Starlink anywhere with network coverage.
Starlink’s fleet of low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites enables it to offer reliable, fast connectivity to almost every location on the planet.
Due to their low population density, rural areas have historically been challenging for network providers to service. However, low earth orbit connectivity has the potential to change all of that.
Satellite internet has been around since the 1990s, but the service hasn’t been widely used because Historically, satellites have orbited Earth from farther away, increasing latency—a measurement of the speed at which data is transmitted.
Fast, stable, and extensive service is made possible by Starlink’s satellite fleet, which orbits the planet at a height of around 550 kilometres above sea level.
There is competition from other LEO satellite operators in the market, such as Eutelsat and Amazon’s Project Kuiper.
The Starlink network can virtually reach every country in the world, but in order for users to access the service lawfully, Starlink would need to register as an operator in each of those nations.
Starlink has not applied for a licence to operate in South Africa, and economic empowerment ownership conditions are thought to be the biggest stumbling block.
Now that Starlink has been registered in Eswatini, residents will be able to import Starlink kits and take out monthly subscriptions which can be used in the country.
Alternatively, roaming packages can be taken out, which allows someone to make use of their Starlink package in another country.
Pricing will pose an issue for the majority of people though as there is a hefty initial fee for a Starlink kit and a substantially above-market monthly fee for the service.
Earlier this year, several South African internet service providers were importing Starlink kits into South Africa and managing global roaming packages on behalf of South Africans.
By July, more than 1 000 South Africans were using Starlink in the country through this system.
But the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) published a notice last month stating that the use of Starlink in South Africa in this way is illegal.
