Zimbabwe is set to get Starlink before South Africa
September 21st 2023
An apparent standoff over licensing rules in South Africa means the country’s impoverished northern neighbour is set to get Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet first. It has emerged that Zimbabwe’s Postal & Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, also known as Potraz, is likely to approve an application by SpaceX to launch Starlink services in the Southern African country. If so, Zimbabwe will join a growing number of African countries that have approved Starlink for use in their territories. Those countries include Mauritius, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda and Mozambique. Various local press reports have said Potraz is likely to approve the SpaceX application. South Africa’s communications regulator, Icasa, has previously said it is not at fault for the delays in licensing Starlink in South Africa. In April, Icasa told TechCentral that it had met twice with SpaceX officials over the possible launch of the satellite internet service locally. It said, however, that it had not received a formal licence application from the company. A spokeswoman for the regulator said on Thursday that this “status quo remains”. Licensing of Starlink in South Africa has become a political football, too. Earlier this year, Democratic Alliance MP Dianne Kohler Barnard lambasted the ANC government for allegedly blocking the satellite service in South Africa, a charge communications minister Mondli Gungubele vehemently denied.