Kenya’s biggest telecommunications company, Vodacom Group affiliate Safaricom, has urged regulators to consider requiring satellite internet providers such as Elon Musk’s Starlink to partner with local mobile network operators (MNOs).

Starlink, a unit of SpaceX, operates in several African countries but has faced regulatory challenges registering in others. It launched in Kenya in July last year.

The company has since rolled out increasingly competitive pricing options and plans that allow Kenyans to rent the required hardware rather than having to purchase it for more than US$350.

Safaricom, which is owned by the Kenyan government, Britain’s Vodafone and South Africa’s Vodacom wrote to the Communications Authority of Kenya’s director-general last month to express concerns about the granting of independent licences to satellite internet providers.

“Satellite coverage inherently spans multiple territorial borders and in doing so has the potential to illegally provide services and cause harmful interference within the territorial borders of the Republic of Kenya,” the letter said.

It called on the Communications Authority to consider requiring satellite providers to operate as “infrastructure providers” to MNOs like Safaricom. It said this would ensure providers invest in Kenya, employ local people and comply with Kenya laws.

Starlink in Africa

The regulator’s director-general, David Mugonyi, and Starlink did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Starlink operates in Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Mozambique, Malawi, Madagascar, Benin, South Sudan, Eswatini and Sierra Leone. Earlier this year, Cameroon ordered the seizure of Starlink equipment at ports as the provider was not licensed. — Aaron Ross, (c) 2024 Reuters