Elon Musk’s Starlink has quickly risen to become Kenya’s seventh-largest internet service provider (ISP), boasting over 19,000 users just months after entering the market. Its satellite broadband service is gaining traction, especially in remote areas where traditional fiber and wireless networks fall short. However, Starlink’s rapid growth has sparked regulatory concerns, with Kenya’s Communications Authority planning to hike satellite license fees and impose a turnover levy. Despite pushback, the company is expanding aggressively—building a Nairobi ground station to improve latency and launching cheaper data plans and hardware rentals. Beyond this, Starlink plans to roll out direct-to-mobile satellite connections in 2025, thereby increasing accessibility and potentially intensifying competition with the industry’s dominant players like Safaricom and Jamii Telecommunications.
Source: Techcabal
