Nigeria Internet Prices May Crash as Starlink Gets Approval
By Bashir Olanrewaju
Nigeria is one of two African countries where the satellite-based internet service, Starlink, will be deployed, raising the prospects of cheaper and faster bandwidth access.
Operated by U.S. company Space X, owned by the world’s richest man Elon Musk, Starlink is also deploying in the southern African country of Mozambique.
The use of satellites for internet connection ensures that it can be deployed anywhere, including rural areas that tend to be poorly served by telecommunications companies relying on fibre and radio base stations.
“One Starlink can provide Internet for an entire school of hundreds of students,” Musk said on his Twitter handle, highlighting it’s “great potential to lift people out of poverty.”
Apart from Africa, Starlink is also in use in South America and Asia.
The arrival of the Starlink in Nigeria has been welcomed by many internet users, who foresee competition with the likes of MTN and Airtel Africa, that should lead to better and cheaper service.